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Re: The German Masters: your views

Postby SnookerFan

Wild wrote:in defence of the welsh open they have a good attendance ok could be better but ive seen it better at Newport than at the UK in Telford.


It does have a certain shabby charm... These best of sevens are a bad idea though. I hope they aren't the death knell for an already unpopular tournament.

Re: The German Masters: your views

Postby Eirebilly

I thought that it was a fantastic tournement, one of the best for a while. Sure there were some small things wrong but that will be fixed. The venue and the crowd were fantastic. I cant wait for the next one <ok> :clap:

Re: The German Masters: your views

Postby SnookerFan

Eirebilly wrote:I thought that it was a fantastic tournement, one of the best for a while. Sure there were some small things wrong but that will be fixed. The venue and the crowd were fantastic. I cant wait for the next one <ok> :clap:


I thought it was awesome. I think with a few tweeks it could become a major snooker tournament. I'd like to see it lengthened and put on a mainstream channel also, an ITV or the like. (I'd say BBC if they weren't cutting back on their coverage.)

It's that good. <ok>

Re: The German Masters: your views

Postby Black2white

:D only just got back from Berlin and that was my first ever live ranking event
haven't seen all the views on the tournament yet, I just want to say as a spectator the tournament has been a great success :ahh: I didn't expect such huge support from the local fans after seeing all those half-empty arenas in Britain :roll: but it was very well attended, there were lots of people even for morning sessions <ok> the venue was simply awesome, all five tables could be seen from anywere in the audience (not quite sure though about how it looked and sounded on tv, every part of the audience seemed to be supporting the match nearest to them, so some of the great shots on the main table might have gone unnoticed as it was a bit further)
the tournament was very well organised, after-match interviews, authograph sessions, no strict rules for people entering the arena during frames, the atmosphere was relaxed which helped players to rise their games and people to really enjoy it all :ahh:
on the matches, all in all I think it was really good quality, especially from quarters onwards (having four centuries in a row was unbelievable :redneck: ) I missed Fu-Williams semi cause I was glued to the other match :mosh2: a real battle of two tough match players that was, the atmosphere was tense, I can't even think about anyone possibly falling asleep during this match (or any other) everyone in the audience seemed to be involved in the matches <ok>
the final itself deserves a special mention. Mark Williams in great form and quite relaxed, Mark Selby a bit nervous and obviously trying his hardest :) but Williams was just sublime :clap: the best man won it deservedly. And as I've started to doubt Selby lately, now after the tournament I can say I saw some really good matches he played (including against Hendry and Ding), I saw the desire to win also from him last week and I believe he will start winning tournaments soon :idea:

All in all, fantastic tournament and a great success. I'm sure it'll be back next year and so will I <cool>

ps seen Monique too :) wanted to come up and say hello but didn't have much of a chance (big thanks to her for again great pictures!)

Re: The German Masters: your views

Postby Roland

It's great to hear from someone who was actually there. Thanks for that Black2white :santa:

I agree about Selby (surprisingly). I was starting to get a bit concerned after the UK and Masters, but his quality as a match player gets him through matches when his scoring game isn't there and even though he kept running out of position and didn't kill a high %age of frames off with the best of chances, he always takes his medicine and plays safe instead of pushing the boat out like many others would do with the frustration of landing on nothing. He very nearly won and had Williams not fluked the snooker on the green at 7-7 he would probably have gone on to win. But saying that, Williams was very unlucky earlier in the frame to pot the brown at the wrong time. So the right man definitely won because Williams played the best snooker all week.

For Selby it's a case of keep plugging away, and his time will come. And then when the doors have been opened, he'll reach more and more latter stages and win more and more events over the next few seasons.

As an event, for me I give it a solid 9 out of 10. The extra mark will come with more tv coverage of outside tables, and maybe bringing the last 64 along and playing for a couple more days. But then I'm probably wrong because that could mean players playing an exhaustive amount of sessions over the course. I just loved the 5 tables in play feeling and it all too quickly went down to 4 and then 2.

Re: The German Masters: your views

Postby randam05

SnookerFan wrote:
Eirebilly wrote:I thought that it was a fantastic tournement, one of the best for a while. Sure there were some small things wrong but that will be fixed. The venue and the crowd were fantastic. I cant wait for the next one <ok> :clap:


I thought it was awesome. I think with a few tweeks it could become a major snooker tournament. I'd like to see it lengthened and put on a mainstream channel also, an ITV or the like. (I'd say BBC if they weren't cutting back on their coverage.)

It's that good. <ok>


Yes and yes to both of them! <ok> SUPER tournament :)

Re: The German Masters: your views

Postby Roland

This is how Mark Selby sees it. He recognises the problems and that's the first step to overcoming them. To fair to him, the line about wanting not to lose instead of wanting to win is probably a product of several matches he's lost when playing really well like Carter in the Shanghai and Hawkins in the World Open.

http://www.markselby.info/blog.html

There isn’t much time to catch breath before the Welsh Open starts next week, and that’s a good thing for me. After reaching the final of the German Masters, it means I go to Newport fresh and full of confidence.

It’s a quick turnaround, but speed may be of the essence for me at the moment. I have a reputation has a dogged fighter with a never-say-die attitude, and I’ve certainly had my fair share of dramatic comebacks.

I almost pulled off another fightback against Mark Williams in Berlin. I was 7-4 down in the final but got it back to 7-7. I had a chance but I didn’t take it, and he went on to win the next two frames and the title. Who knows what could have been?

Other than the final, and against Graeme Dott in the semis, I had a good, quick start in all my matches and led from the front. But more often than not I am a slow starter, and sometimes that can cost me. I can be over-cautious, trying to be too careful and not make any errors. Sometimes I play not to lose, rather than play to win, and that stops me from performing to the best of my ability. You can’t lose a match in first two or three frames, so I need to start off more relaxed and get myself into a commanding position, rather than playing caych-up.

I will certainly go to Wales in relaxed mood. My confidence was in a bit of limbo after I lost my Masters title last month. I was gutted after losing in the first round at Wembley, and to bounce back so quickly, especially in a ranking event, is a massive boost.

I went into the Masters putting too much pressure on myself as defending champion, and that certainly played a part in the defeat. But although it left me feeling fragile and lacking self-belief, it meant I went to Germany with no expectations and no pressure, and to get to the final was just reward for all the hard work I put in on the practice table.

If you’d said before the week started that I would get to the final in Germany, I would have snapped your hand off. Of course I was disappointed to lose against Mark, but there were more positives that came out of it than negatives. And I don’t feel I played that well in final, he was definitely the better player overall.

Getting to the final also pushed me back up the latest rankings list, to No.4, so it shows I must be doing something right at the moment, that I’m going in the right direction. I hope to take that good form to Newport next week.

I’ve got good memories of playing in Wales, and I always seem to play well there. Obviously there’s the Welsh Open win in 2008, my first (and hopefully not last) ranking title. But I used to enjoy all the qualifiers at Prestatyn when I was starting out, so it will be good to go back. It’s a short format this year too, with every match up to the last 16 the best of seven frames, so it could be anybody’s.

Re: The German Masters: your views

Postby Smart

SnookerFan wrote:"The German Masters came good in the end and is one for the future but there were a number of tweaks required IMO."

I agree. I'd like to see it longer, but without losing the multi-table format. Maybe bringing in the last round of qualifying to events? Or being the one tournament a year where the top-32 automatically qualify. I'm not a fan of letting numerous wildcards into rankers ala China Open, but it'd be good if we had more opportunity to watch this. Rather then what we had, with the cameras going down on day 1. Because it could become a very fine tournament. It's a shame that you can be busy one day, and miss a big portion of the tournament.

As a serial ticket buyer, I don't know how I'd like to watch the tournament live. And it would be interesting to hear how a lack of dividers between matches helped or hindered live viewing. Didn't Monique go? I'd be interested in hearing how that differed from what we're used to here in the UK. It certainly worked from a televisual standpoint though, and made the German tournament look unique, and somehow more exciting.

And of course the massive, massive crowd helped. And showed that a big crowd can bring atmosphere, without having to resort to this idea that snooker is better when everybody watching it is drunk.

I'd like to see more tournaments in Germany. The fans were good, showing that they didn't care whether Ronnie was there or not. They wanted to see quality snooker, whether the person playing it was a big name or not. Fair play to them. It's criminal we haven't seen more events over there in recent years, and I'd like a couple next year. Maybe a German Open, and a Dusseldorf Open or something.

Snooker and Germany could become very close allies. <ok>


Munich Masters .................Stuttgart Shootout........................Berlin Bashem Up :idea:

3 tournies in Germany next year :wave:

Re: The German Masters: your views

Postby SnookerFan

Smart wrote:
SnookerFan wrote:"The German Masters came good in the end and is one for the future but there were a number of tweaks required IMO."

I agree. I'd like to see it longer, but without losing the multi-table format. Maybe bringing in the last round of qualifying to events? Or being the one tournament a year where the top-32 automatically qualify. I'm not a fan of letting numerous wildcards into rankers ala China Open, but it'd be good if we had more opportunity to watch this. Rather then what we had, with the cameras going down on day 1. Because it could become a very fine tournament. It's a shame that you can be busy one day, and miss a big portion of the tournament.

As a serial ticket buyer, I don't know how I'd like to watch the tournament live. And it would be interesting to hear how a lack of dividers between matches helped or hindered live viewing. Didn't Monique go? I'd be interested in hearing how that differed from what we're used to here in the UK. It certainly worked from a televisual standpoint though, and made the German tournament look unique, and somehow more exciting.

And of course the massive, massive crowd helped. And showed that a big crowd can bring atmosphere, without having to resort to this idea that snooker is better when everybody watching it is drunk.

I'd like to see more tournaments in Germany. The fans were good, showing that they didn't care whether Ronnie was there or not. They wanted to see quality snooker, whether the person playing it was a big name or not. Fair play to them. It's criminal we haven't seen more events over there in recent years, and I'd like a couple next year. Maybe a German Open, and a Dusseldorf Open or something.

Snooker and Germany could become very close allies. <ok>


Munich Masters .................Stuttgart Shootout........................Berlin Bashem Up :idea:

3 tournies in Germany next year :wave:


:bowdown: :excited: :ba: :ba:

Re: The German Masters: your views

Postby SnookerFan

Black2white wrote::D only just got back from Berlin and that was my first ever live ranking event
haven't seen all the views on the tournament yet, I just want to say as a spectator the tournament has been a great success :ahh: I didn't expect such huge support from the local fans after seeing all those half-empty arenas in Britain :roll: but it was very well attended, there were lots of people even for morning sessions <ok> the venue was simply awesome, all five tables could be seen from anywere in the audience (not quite sure though about how it looked and sounded on tv, every part of the audience seemed to be supporting the match nearest to them, so some of the great shots on the main table might have gone unnoticed as it was a bit further)
the tournament was very well organised, after-match interviews, authograph sessions, no strict rules for people entering the arena during frames, the atmosphere was relaxed which helped players to rise their games and people to really enjoy it all :ahh:
on the matches, all in all I think it was really good quality, especially from quarters onwards (having four centuries in a row was unbelievable :redneck: ) I missed Fu-Williams semi cause I was glued to the other match :mosh2: a real battle of two tough match players that was, the atmosphere was tense, I can't even think about anyone possibly falling asleep during this match (or any other) everyone in the audience seemed to be involved in the matches <ok>
the final itself deserves a special mention. Mark Williams in great form and quite relaxed, Mark Selby a bit nervous and obviously trying his hardest :) but Williams was just sublime :clap: the best man won it deservedly. And as I've started to doubt Selby lately, now after the tournament I can say I saw some really good matches he played (including against Hendry and Ding), I saw the desire to win also from him last week and I believe he will start winning tournaments soon :idea:

All in all, fantastic tournament and a great success. I'm sure it'll be back next year and so will I <cool>

ps seen Monique too :) wanted to come up and say hello but didn't have much of a chance (big thanks to her for again great pictures!)


I'm glad you enjoyed it. My major curiousness was how it would work in the arena, being able to see all matches. Would it add to the experience, or be distracting? Interesting to see that you loved it. <ok>

Personally, I thought it worked televisually. You'd be watching the main match, but see other people playing behind them in the background. Splendid. :)

Re: The German Masters: your views

Postby SnookerFan

Sonny wrote:This is how Mark Selby sees it. He recognises the problems and that's the first step to overcoming them. To fair to him, the line about wanting not to lose instead of wanting to win is probably a product of several matches he's lost when playing really well like Carter in the Shanghai and Hawkins in the World Open.


Mark Selby, :bowdown:

Welsh Open. :bowdown: :bowdown: