German Masters 2022 snooker as it happened - Zhao Xintong beats Mark Williams, Kyren Wilson through, Neil Robertson out
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ByEurosport
Updated 26/01/2022 at 21:34 GMT
Welcome to Eurosport's live coverage of the 2022 German Masters. In 2021 the event was won by former world champion Judd Trump as part of his magical season. Trump will be the top seed in a field containing the likes of Mark Selby, Neil Roberton and Mark Williams. The latter pair are both in action today with Williams headlining the early session and Roberton the late session.
‘Knock me over!’ – Vafaei produces ‘perfect frame’ to win Shoot Out
Ricky Walden beats Neil Robertson 5-3!
That's a great scalp for Ricky, who finishes with a total clearance of 124; he meets Luca Brecel next, and takes a big step towards qualifying for the Players' Championship.But that's it for tonight - join us again tomorrow, but ta-ra for now.
Robertson 3-4 Walden (0-71)
Ricky wants to finish with a ton and he sends a red along the side rail that drops into the yellow pocket - lovely stuff. And there's his ton - can he make it a total clearance?
Robertson 3-4 Walden (0-71)
You feared for Ricky when Neil went 3-2, but he's taken this chance nicely - though he was helped by a reckless pot that handed it to him.
Robertson 3-4 Walden (0-42)
On two separate occasions, Ricky brings the white back dangerously close to the middle bag, and we've reached the moment of truth: he goes into the pack, it works beautiful,and now the nerves will kick in because he really should secure f&m at this visit.
Robertson 3-4 Walden (0-1)
Oh! Ricky takes on a long red to right corner that does everything but go in, Neil does likewise - that was attacking to the point of recklessness, even for so brilliant a potter - and now look! Balls everywhere, and this is a proper chance for Ricky to get home!
Robertson 3-4 Walden
Neil got what he deserved there, but will know that he's playing well enough to save himself - he just needs to concentrate.
Robertson 3-3 Walden (47-57)
Ricky sends a red to right middle - that must rub it in - and it's hard to see him missing anything before the frame is secure. As I type that, he finishes the wrong side of the blue, making the yellow harder that it needs to be - he pots it, but overscrews so the green is no longer a gimme. He sinks it though, and Neil now needs two in a row!
Robertson 3-3 Walden (47-5)
"Practically unmissable" says Uncle Joe of a red Neil can't get into right middle, and if Ricky can steal here it'll be a major blow The table is nicely set for him, and we might just have a new favourite for the match!
Robertson 3-3 Walden (2-0)
Ricky catches the brown playing safe so Neil sinks a long one, but he's on nowt and a poor safety shot gives Ricky a chance to dictate. He can't take it, catching his chosen red thick, and that error will cost him more than one.
Around the tables
Tom Ford 5-2 Stephen Maguire
Michael Georgiou 2-4 Craig Steadman
Robertson 3-3 Walden
Neil's looked much better the last couple of frames, but he's only won one of them. Ricky might think he should be home by now, but if you'd offered him a best of three, he'd've took it.
Robertson 3-2 Walden (11-52)
Ricky escapes well, sticking Neil to a red up the top of the table, but he sends it all the way into the yellow pocket then leaves the white behind the black. This time, though, the post-escape red sent long wobbles in the jaws of the green pocket and we're back playing safety ... not for long. Neil leaves one near left corner - only just, his safety wasn't bad - but Ricky does well to steer it home, and this should be 3-3.
Robertson 3-2 Walden (10-36)
Ricky's spent most of this break chasing, and off the blue he's without a red - he might double one on the side cushion, but opts to play safe and again goes to sit down having made fewer than he anticipated. And the thing is, against a long-potter of Neil's brillance, that's a big problem; another red goes down, then it's tight behind the green.
Robertson 3-2 Walden (9-7)
Neil strokes home a red to right corner, played gently to leave nothing. It means the black is trickier than it might've been but he sees that away too, only to play a beautiful shot on his next black ... but miss the pot! iIve no idea how it stayed out, but Ricky now has a good chance to accumulate and knows he's running out of chance to take
Around the tables
Tom Ford 4-1 Stephen Maguire
Michael Georgiou 0-4 Craig Steadman
Robertson 3-2 Walden
His score on 68, Neil misses the blue to the green pocket, but Ricky knows the jig is up and stays in his seat. TTFDU leads for the first time - that is ominous.
Robertson 2-2 Walden (39-0)
It does not! Neil unwittingly nudges a ball and the ref sees - he doesn't - but I don't think it's going to matter because Ricky gets a double-kiss missing to left corner.
Robertson 2-2 Walden (33-0)
Neil rattles in a red and breaks up the cluster, but then overcuts a blue to left middle and Ricky is right in amongst it ... only to miss a simple red! That surely means the frame?!
Robertson 2-2 Walden (18-0)
A decent long red sets Neil away, but he catches the yellow potting the blue - his positional play hasn't been great tonight - and that's end of break. Ricky, though, misses one you expect him to take, another good longun and Neil's got his hand on the table, and let's see what he manages this time.
Off we go again
Around the tables
Tom Ford 3-1 Stephen Maguire
Michael Georgiou 0-3 Craig Steadman
Robertson 2-2 Walden
Neil quickly makes the frame safe, so we're level at the mid-sesh with the promise of plenty of excitement when we reconvene in 15.
Robertson 1-2 Walden (67-23)
Ricky runs out of position so disturbs one of the final two reds, then Neil sinks it. He winds up behind the last one, but it's on the left rail, not great for a lefty, and he jawses it, then watches it spring out of the opposite jaws and go safe. But then Ricky plays a poor safety and that will absolutely be the frame.
Robertson 1-2 Walden (46-15)
Just when the break looks in danger, Neil clips a lovely long one from middle of table to left corner, and should do enough at this visit, but of the four remaining reds, one's on the top cushion and ones on the side. The he misses one of the others! This is now a chance for Ricky, but not a good one - the table is tricky, and with his opener, he knocks the only remaining red in open play to the rail. Still, given where he was two minutes ago he'd've took it.
Robertson 1-2 Walden (18-8)
They're trading misses here, Ricky jawsing a black off its spot. It winds up in the middle of the top cushion, but the pink has to go there because its home is occupied, meaning there are points out there for Neil.
Robertson 1-2 Walden (1-7)
Neil sinks a tremendous long red to right corner, only to miss a simple pink into the same pocket - that is a massive oversight, especially as there's a starter there for Ricky. But after he drops in the pink, he wins up on nowt - the remaining reds are tightly clustered, so Neil plays an attacking safety, hitting them thick, and Ricky's now under pressure not to leave anything.
Around the tables
Tom Ford 2-1 Stephen Maguire
Michael Georgiou 0-2 Craig Steadman
Robertson 1-2 Walden
Yup, 41 and the frame. Neither player is quite where they'd like to be, but Ricky will know that if he's going to win, it'll have to be from the front and that's where he is.
Robertson 1-1 Walden (8-57)
Ah man. Ricky nudges a red from baulk to right centre and it does everything but go down; he's shaking his head because he knows that was a key error ... but Neil the misses it too! What on earth! So Ricky's back in business, getting himself up to the black - in the process, he does everything but miss one to left corner - and should now secure the frame at this visit.
Robertson 1-1 Walden (8-13)
Neil lives one and Ricky drains it, but then cues all the way across a blue to right corner and Neil is in. When he goes into the pack, though, he doesn't catch the red he's aiming to hit as solidly as he intended, has to pot diagonally from the side cushion, and not only does he miss, he follows through! Eesh! This is the kind of chance Ricky knows he has to take.
Around the tables
Tom Ford 0-1 Stephen Maguire
Michael Georgiou 0-2 Craig Steadman
Robertson 1-1 Walden
Ricky will know that he missed a chance here, and against the Thunder you probably won't get that many. He took his clearance like the expert that he is, and you expect him to kick on from here.
Robertson 0-1 Walden (53-40)
Neil won the Masters just a couple of weeks ago, and he's looking in decent nick here, playing at his pace - when he's slower, he's far more likely to make errors. He'll need to the brown, I think, but the way the balls are it's hard to see that not happening;.
Robertson 0-1 Walden (18-40)
Just as I'm typing that Ricky's looking good, I'm forced to type Rickaaaaaayyyyyy when he overcuts a red to right corner by so much it doesn't get close to the knuckle. Neil can only punish to the une of a red, but he gets the next chance too and is now favourite for the frame.
Robertson 0-1 Walden (3-20)
It's Ricky at the table, Neil sitting at the side as his hair grows. It's not where it was at that point last year where it was simply spectacular, but we can only hope we're going down that road again.
Results from earlier
Anda 3-5 Brecel
McGill 2-5 Zhou
Wilson K 5-1 Robertson N
Evening all
I'm afraid I've to begin with an apology: technical difficulties prevented me from logging into our system, so we're a frame deep, won by Ricky Walden in three visits. He leads Neil Robertson 1-0.
I enjoyed the hell out of that
Here's that plant: ASTONISHING.
Join me at 6.45pm GMT for Neil Robertson v Ricky Walden.
Around the tables
Anda 3-4 Brecel
McGill 2-4 Zhou
Wilson K 5-1 Robertson N
Zhao Xintong beats Mark J Williams 5-3!
Mark fouls, so calls a belting match. The UK champ plays Tom Ford or Stephen Maguire next.
Williams 3-4 Zhao (14-56)
Zhao clips a red into the yellow pocket - that was not at all easy - and that it was match-ball makes it a whole nother thing entirely. He misses the next red, which Mark sinks, but as well as the balls that are left - and one's on the top cushion - he needs two snookers.
Williams 3-4 Zhao (14-51)
This a much better contribution than the scoreboard suggests, because Mark's break made the frame a messy one. A fiendish red goes to right corner, then clustered reds are split via the pink, and Zhao needs three more reds for victory. I fancy him...
Williams 3-4 Zhao (14-16)
Mark ruffles a red and brings the white behind the brown, which is below the yellow - he's been waiting for the chance to do that - but Zhou escapes, thunders an astonishing long plant, one ball sending the other diagonally into the corner, and there are some points available here. Not loads, because the table remains unpleasant, but that can change quickly. Another plant follows, then a yellow while lying over a red, and already things look better than before.
Williams 3-4 Zhao (14-0)
Marl leaves a tempter and Zhao unloads the suitcase, as you would if you were him. But this time he misses, and the power means he leaves one. Mark sees it away and follows up with a blue, rocketed into the green pocket, but the table is a complex one and the nudge he gets on a red doesn't make it or any others pottable.
Williams 3-4 Zhao (0-0)
We're back playing into and away from the pack, the reds almost as they were set. Zhao goes too soft and concedes four, then Mark goes to baulk and this is more like a normal frame now, Zhao missing again when seeking a thin contact.
Williams 3-4 Zhao (0-0)
The ref intervenes and we go again, Mark J to break.
Williams 3-4 Zhao (0-0)
Tapping around into the pack, courtesy of the top-cushion break. This is re-rack territory and I'm actually surprised we've not had one already - though Mark won't want to break again lest he leave that long one.
Around the tables
Anda 3-3 Brecel
McGill 1-4 Zhou
Wilson K 5-1 Robertson N
Williams 3-4 Zhao
When you can pot long reds like Zhao can, you're a strong bet for any frame.
Williams 3-3 Zhao (38-78)
Zhao plays a poor black, but still had a red to left middle, going in and out of baulk to come back for the pink. It's not perfect but it's good enough, and after losing two in a row - but more than that, in a manner that suggested he was slipping - he's now one up with two to play.
Williams 3-3 Zhao (38-31)
Zhao is like a machine, dearie me. If you leave him a longun, he's somehow able to compute every variable and send it into the heart of the pocket. Which is what he does to right corner when Mark leaves a tempter in missing one himself, and the way the balls are, he looks likely to win the frame here.
Williams 3-3 Zhao (38-14)
Oh. Mark undercuts one to right corner from mid-distance - no one expected that, least of all him, and as such no provision was made for that eventuality. Zhao needed that kind of gimme because he's gone cold, but gets no luck when cracking the pack, so we're back playing safety.
Williams 3-3 Zhao (32-0)
A fine long red from Mark opens frame seven, and he's easing gently about the black spot doing what he does: precision pecking. He uses the spider when forced to bridge awkwardly, and looks in perfect control.
Around the tables
Anda 2-3 Brecel
McGill 1-3 Zhou
Wilson K 4-1 Robertson N
Williams 3-3 Zhao
THe tide appears to have turned.
Williams 2-3 Zhao (76-9)
Zhou has dropped his level a little and there's no one better and preying on weakness than Mark.
Williams 2-3 Zhao (31-9)
Yup, good old Mark Jo is doing what he can to give us a thriller ... he misses a red to right middle, into the near knuckle, and Zhou finds a plant to left middle! Here comes a crucial cut-back black ... sink this and he's in with a chance of winning f&m at this visit, miss it and he leaves everything ... and he leaves everything! There aren't many people I'd back harder to do the necessary from here than Mark J.
Williams 2-3 Zhao (7-8)
Mark breaks, reverting to caution and nudging into the back of the pack off the bottom cushion. The aim is not to leave a red on, but he has, and Zhao calmly jabs it into the left middle. The black follows but the white sticks to the pack as Zhao tries to force it open, and it's end of break. Mark seizes the next chance, driving a red into the left middle, and there's points on here.
Williams 2-3 Zhao
A poor attempt at a snooker from Zhao leaves the brown over the right middle, and it's curtains. Mark dishes up to the pink, and now trails by just one frame.
Williams 1-3 Zhao (73-50)
Bless this mess! Mark mops up red-pink-red, but then dunks the white straight into the right middle after potting the blue. Zhao needs three snookers, and soon picks up four when Mark gets out of one but sends the green into the left middle. All the colours are in the open here, so it's a chance. Zhao plugs the yellow and green, and then lays a snooker behind the black that yields four more points. If he can land one more and make Mark miss, he can nick it!
Williams 1-3 Zhao (65-32)
It's been said before, but this lad can pot them. Zhao drains a long red into the bottom left, picked nicely off the left rail, but soon makes a hash of a red to the bottom right when utilising the rest. Mark can step in and put this one to bed...
Williams 1-3 Zhao (65-16)
Would you Adam and Eve it. Mark shorts position on the blue, leaving a slightly off straight, mid-range red to the bottom right. He lines it up...and he's jawed it out of the pocket! His head sinks, because there's 75 still on here. Zhao can't make him pay in full though as his counter comes apart on 16 as he jaws his own red out of the bottom right. He's not left anything though, and we go on.
Williams 1-3 Zhao (52-0)
A careless positional shot on the reds leaves Mark a tough one long to the yellow pocket, but he calmly strokes it in and the half-century is soon in the bag. Bar a calamitous loss of position, the frame will soon follow.
Williams 1-3 Zhao (28-0)
We're back and Mark, with much to do, gets to work with a red into the left middle. He's quickly into the pack soon after off two cushions, and they split well enough to keep him going. A few shots later Mark gives the reds a more forceful whack when potting the blue and hey presto, the frame is now at his mercy.
Around the tables
Anda 1-2 Brecel
McGill 1-3 Zhou
Wilson K 3-0 Robertson N
Williams 1-3 Zhao
Zhao runs out of position on 72 with Mark needing four snookers, plays safe, and the concession is immediate. See you after the mid-sesh, when Mark J will need three on the spin!
Williams 1-2 Zhao (0-64)
The thing with Zhao is still that he makes silly errors - see the self-snookering - but this has been a lovely run, a controlled cannon off the blue opening what's left of the pack, and this will be 3-1!
Williams 1-2 Zhao (0-47)
You've got to be so careful against this lad and Mark's break leaves the same red he left last time and Zhao sticks it away again; I wonder if we'll see the top-cushion version if he gets another go at one. Meantime, Zhao accumulates, easing beautifully into the pack off the black, and consequently this is a really good chance.
Around the tables
Anda 1-1 Brecel
McGill 0-3 Zhou
Wilson K 2-0 Robertson N
Williams 1-2 Zhao
This is a great match-up, and though neither player is at their best, the exchanges are great fun to watch.
Williams 1-1 Zhao (60-57)
But here comes Zhao again, left a green to left corner that's difficult for almost anyone else. Thing is, it's not just that he can get the nails ones, it's that he rarely misses the ones he should get, and his burgling the burglar!
Williams 1-1 Zhao (60-39)
BOOM! Zhao nails a long red, that is so so so brilliant, and in comms Angles says he's the best at that, better than Robertson, better than Mark J - only to stick his own self in a full-ball snooker, brown between white and green. What an oversight!
Williams 1-1 Zhao (60-31)
But he does, only for Zhou to fail to capitalise, leaving a cut to left middle with a handy blue buffer that lets him cannon and hold. He drains it and tries to go around the table to land behind the final red - frame-ball - on the side cushion, landing on it instead. He plays safe, and the chase is on.
Williams 1-1 Zhao (44-31)
Very quickly, Mark gets in front, but there are two reds stuck together, one near the side and another down in baulk, so Zhao has some hope. Mark, though, takes one to the same middle pocket as if to rub it in, eliminates the one above the brown, and you can't really see him missing.
Williams 1-1 Zhao (9-31)
And there he goes, a gorgeous cut-back on the black, struck with such power as to leave Angles cooing in co-comm ... but the white sticks to the pink and he can only try a tight one to right middle, overcutting it and leaving Maark J the table.
Williams 1-1 Zhao (0-23)
Zhou marks Mark, a decent safety sticking him tight against the bottom cushion thereby opening the route to a pot when he can't get everything safe. He's soon about the black spot, but there's not much picking to be done, so he'll have to dig into the cluster sooner rather than later.
Around the tables
Anda 1-1 Brecel
McGill 0-2 Zhou
Wilson K 1-0 Robertson N
Williams 1-1 Zhao
Yeah, you get into tight ones with Mark J and that's what happens.
Williams 0-1 Zhao (56-31)
Mark snookers Zhou with the green behind the black and he gets a decent hit on it ... but leave it too. That's the frame.
Williams 0-1 Zhao (49-31)
Mark acknowledges a clever safety from Zhou - there can be no greater praise - sticking white to green with yellow on the other side of the table. Mark hits it well, but he still needs yellow, green and brown to secure the frame - Zhou needs everything - and he sinks the first but misses the second to left corner. I didn't expect that and nor did he.
Williams 0-1 Zhao (47-31)
Oh yes! Mark takes on a long red into the green pocket and clunks it right into the heart! He is so good at those, as he is at every other aspect of the game. But looking to get onto the green, marooned on the side cushion, he overcuts the yellow and that's end of break.
Williams 0-1 Zhao (34-31)
Or not! He tries to coax a black dead weight to right corner, and because he catches it thin it doesn't have enough pop to struggle in when it hits the far knuckle. We've a new favourite for the frame!
Williams 0-1 Zhao (20-31)
Mark misses a red to right corner, it rolls along the rail, rattles the jaw of left corner, stays out, and then Zhao misses it too. But he's soon in again, picking to begin with when he might've dug into the pack, so he finds himself in baulk before easing back down for the black. My SkyGo then crashes, returning as he takes another starter - I'm not sure what happened to his previous break - but he's looking nice for 2-0.
Williams 0-1 Zhao (5-3)
Mark takes a nasty little green to keep the break going, drains it ... but a little thick, so that might be it. But no, he finds a plant ... only to cover the black, so back to baulk he goes.
Williams 0-1 Zhao (1-3)
It's great to back in Germany - yes, for those that are there, but I'm sure it's the case. And it's working well for Zhao, who rolls in another fine long one to right corner, dead weight ... but misses the second red and leaves it over left corner. Mark is away...
Around the tables
Anda 0-0 Brecel
McGill 0-0 Zhou
Wilson K 0-0 Robertson N
Williams 0-1 Zhao
Fifteen more points, and there's nothing Mark can do.
Williams 0-0 Zhao (31-79)
It's Zhao who pots the next ball, and he makes damn sure to secure the frame this time.
Williams 0-0 Zhao (31-64)
Mark doesn't get enough of one of those cushioned reds, so plays safe, and the chase begins.
Williams 0-0 Zhao (9-64)
This has been an immaculate run, and Zhao won't need the two reds close to the side cushion or the two snuggled together under the pink. But what's this?! He misses a straightforward mid-distance one to left corner, so has to sit down 64 in front with 75 on the table. Lucky he's not playing the bloke who's made a career out of larceny such as that which is now available to him...
Williams 0-0 Zhao (0-36)
A terrific long red, Williams-style dare I say it, sets the UK champ away, and Zhao quickly starts accumulating; what a fine player he is, so smooth, composed and confident around the table. This looks like being a framewinning contribution already...
We're good to go...
Afternoon all
And it don't stop! Here we go with another tournament of glorious snook, and with just 32 men involved, every match is a biggun. First up, we've got Zhao Xintong v Mark Williams - tasty! - then tonight we've got Ricky Walden v Neil Robertson. Ooh yeah!
On the pioneering work of Ding Junhui and how one gamble transformed a sport
Of the 32 qualifiers for this week’s German Masters, a quarter are from China. This perfectly illustrates the growing influence of the Chinese contingent on the professional tour, but the man who made it all possible will not be there.
Ding Junhui did not qualify for Berlin. He is languishing in 30th place in the world rankings and is now China’s fourth highest ranked player behind Zhao Xintong, Yan Bingtao and Zhou Yuelong. Three more Chinese players – Xiao Guodong, Liang Wenbo and Lu Ning – are stationed just behind him on the ranking list.
Since Ding’s capture of the 2019 UK Championship, he has barely registered on the radar, failing to reach a ranking event semi-final in two years. On the one-year ranking list which measures this season’s performances he is 68th.
Snooker is constantly reaching out to new markets. At the weekend, Hossein Vafaei became the first Iranian to win a professional title following his dramatic capture of the Shootout. He could become an important figure in driving interest in the middle east, but there has never been a player from outside the traditional British base as influential as Ding.
Read Eurosport commentator Dave Hendon's full preview here.
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