Yesterday in Berlin saw the conclusion of the last 32 round and the start of the lest 16. There were more “last 16 casualties” in the morning and afternoon sessions as Neil Robertson, Mark Williams and Marco Fu also went out at that stage. This left us with just 4 top 16 players in the top 16 round: Mark Selby, Stuart Bingham, Ali Carter and Barry Hawkins. And Stuart was quite lucky to come against a rather weak opponent because he was far from convincing.

Here is worldsnooker report on the conclusion of the last 32 round:

Thursday 2 Feb 2017 06:47PM

Ben Woollaston scored a tremendous 5-4 win over Neil Robertson to reach the last 16 of the F66.com German Masters in Berlin – and improved his chances of qualifying for next week’s Ladbrokes World Grand Prix.

World number 27 Woollaston knocked out the player ranked 20 places above him to set up a meeting with Barry Hawkins tomorrow at the Tempodrom.

Leicester’s Woollaston is now up to 34th  on the provisional one-year ranking list so one more win in Berlin could make him one of the 32 players to earn a place at next week’s tournament at the Preston Guild Hall. For live updates on that race CLICK HERE

Woollaston built a 4-2 lead with top breaks of 83, 61, 117 and 68. In frame seven he missed a tricky blue when just two pots from victory. Australia’s Robertson knocked in an excellent long blue and added the pink for 4-3, then took the next with a run of 59 to force the decider. But it was Woollaston who won the last frame with runs of 38 and 40.

World Champion Mark Selby eased to a 5-0 win over Thepchaiya Un-Nooh with top runs of 53, 100, 70, 64 and 85.

Selby now meets Anthony Hamilton, who kept his excellent season going with a 5-3 win over Mark Williams. David Gilbert saw off Scottish Open champion Marco Fu 5-3 while Michael Holt beat Stuart Carrington 5-1.

China’s Yan Bingtao remains just inside the top 32 of the one-year list thanks to a 5-2 win over Dominic Dale. Stuart Bingham top scored with 129 in a 5-3 win over Zhang Yong while Barry Hawkins beat Michael White 5-1.

I was particularly happy to seen Ben winning over Neil Robertson. It’s not that I dislike Neil but, maybe it’s because of my European background, there was a gesture that I really didn’t like at the end of frame 7, one of those big fist pumping that I feel as an aggression. I know that others don’t see it this way, they see it as an expression of how much it matters for the player, but I also know, because I heard it from the people involved, that many players hate to be at the receiving end of such gestures.

The evening saw four of the last 16 round matches played. Ali Cater was the only top 16 member involved and he won his match in a decider. His young opponent Zhao Xintong is a terrific prospect, but he’s still raw and it showed against the experienced Ali. Martin Gould kept his defence alive and looks in good nick although he’s always struggling a bit when the finishing line is in sight.

Here is worldsnooker report on the evening session.

Thursday 2 Feb 2017 10:37PM

Ali Carter scored a 5-4 win over young Chinese talent Zhao Xintong to reach the quarter-finals of the F66.com German Masters.

Zhao, 19, has been tipped for stardom and showed the extent of his talent when he beat John Higgins 5-1 to qualify for the final stages in Berlin. And he looked capable of taking another big scalp tonight when he led 4-3, but lost the the last two frames. World number 14 Carter goes through to meet Tom Ford at the Tempodrom on Friday evening.

Carter made breaks of 77, 117 and 67  in taking a 3-2 lead before Zhao hit back with 90 and 69 to go 4-3 ahead. Carter dominated the eighth frame to force the decider.

Zhao had one clear scoring chance but made just 8 before going in-off in potting a red to a top corner. Chelmsford’s Carter, who won this title in 2013, took advantage with a run of 58 to cross the winning line.

Ford came from 2-1 down to score a 5-2 win over Mark King, and made breaks of 73, 62 and 66. Leicester’s Ford is now certain to qualify for next week’s Ladbrokes World Grand Prix in Preston – for the latest on that race CLICK HERE

Defending champion Martin Gould saw off Ricky Walden 5-3. Gould raced into a 4-0 lead with a top break of 61, and despite losing the next three frames he clinched it in the eighth with a 64.

Gould now meets Ryan Day, who edged out Robin Hull 5-4. Day trailed 3-0 but won five of the next six frames with top breaks of 132 and 104.

Punditry

Missing Clip 2017 German Masters: preview of the Mark Selby – Thepchaiya Un-Nooh match

Missing Clip 2017 German Masters: MSI of the Mark Selby – Thepchaiya Un-Nooh match

Missing Clip 2017 German Masters: review of the Mark Selby – Thepchaiya Un-Nooh match

Missing Clip 2017 German Masters: MSI of the Allister Carter – Zhao Xintong match

Missing Clip 2017 German Masters: review of the Allister Carter – Zhao Xintong match

So today we’ll have the conclusion of the last 16 in the afternoon and the QFs in the evening. This means that four players will have to play two matches today.

So what happened yesterday?

Well we first got a very, very sad news: Ding Junhui mother, Chen, passed away; she lost her battle to cancer, she was only 55.

Ronnie expressed his condolences on twitter and FB:

truly devastated to hear the news about dings mum, a truly wonderful wonderful woman. thoughts are with the family Ro xx

Ronnie became close friend with Ding after the Masters 2007, when Ronnie comforted a very distraugh youg Ding who was bullied by some in the crowd and he was invited in the family in China. I’m certain the feelings expressed there are genuine.

I had the pleasure to meet the lady in Sheffield and she was indeed a calm, smiling and gentle presence and a wonderful support to her son. My thoughts are with Ding and his family at these difficult times.

Now about the snooker …

Of course, the big news on the day was Mark King beating Ronnie. You can read all about it here.

But there was more, and more surprises …

Tom ford beat Peter Ebdon by 5-2, that’s not a big surprise actually, and made a 147 in frame two. This was his third.

Mark Allen was beaten soundly by Ryan Day, by 5-1, whilst Ali Carter beat Stephen Maguire by the same score on the television table. Maguire looked even more out of sorts than Ronnie! Jimmy White was in front for most of his match against Robin Hull, but lost in a decider. It’s difficult to tell how much the loss of his flat to a fire affected his performance. Ricky Walden finally got the better of John Ashley, but he had to work hard for it: another decider. Defending Champion Martin Gould had no such problems: he beat Jamie Jones by 5-0 and scored heavily. Zhao Xintong, Ronnie’s protégé, beat Akani Songsermsawad by the same score, which surprised me a bit, but then, when Zhao is on form he’s a deadly potter.

So for now,  Ali Carter is the only top 16 member  who reached the last 16 …  but of course we have Stuart Bingham, Mark Selby, Marco Fu, Barry Hawkins, Neil Robertson and Mark Williams in action today. It starts now…

Ronnie was beaten by Mark King last night, by 5-4 in the last 32 of the German Masters 2017. So his run in Berlin as a player came to an early end. We can expect him in the studio though, along with Jimmy White who also lost in a decider, to Robin Hull, yesterday afternoon.

Here is the match report on Worldsnooker (excerpt)

Wednesday 1 Feb 2017 10:56PM

Mark King made an unlikely come back from 4-1 down to beat Ronnie O’Sullivan 5-4 in the last 32 of the F66.com German Masters.

O’Sullivan won the Masters for the seventh time just ten days ago, but his game deserted him in the closing stages tonight as he lost the last four frames in a row.

In fact King has been something of a bogey player for O’Sullivan over the years, with Romford’s King beating his Essex rival in five of their nine meetings.

Breaks of 74, 69 and 81 helped O’Sullivan build a 4-1 lead tonight, then King made 93 and 77 to recover to 4-3. O’Sullivan had chances to win the match in each of the next two frames but couldn’t take them. The decider came down to the last red and King, leading by 22 points, potted it and cleared to the pink for victory.

“Ronnie and I have got plenty of history which people don’t really know about, since we were kids,” said world number 21 King, who won the first ranking title of his career at the Northern Ireland Open in November. “It’s not a needle match but it’s always nice to beat him. That’s rivalry for you.

“From 4-1 down I was positive and aggressive and went for my shots. I was lucky that Ronnie missed a few. The crowd is great here and the reception I got at the end was amazing.”

King now meets Tom Ford, who also had cause to celebrate as he made the third 147 of his career during a 5-2 win over Peter Ebdon.

Here is the preview, with Ronnie’s and Mark King interviews:

Missing Clip

And the match:

2017 German Masters: Ronnie O’Sullivan – Mark King

Missing Clip 2017 German Masters: MSI of the Ronnie O’Sullivan –

The post-match review of the Ronnie O’Sullivan – Mark King match

It was a bit of a strange match. Ronnie looked a bit out of sorts and tired from the start, and even at 4-1, he looked rather uncomfortable. His long potting wasn’t good and he missed a lot with the rest, which is unusual. In fact it probably should have been 3-2, rather than 4-1 at that point if it wasn’t for Mark King very sportively calling a foul on himself in frame 4. Then Mark kept him cold in his seat for two full frames and after that Ronnie never looked like a winner. But all credit to Mark King, he was the better player last night and I’m wishing him the best of luck for the rest of the tournament.

And now some Ronnie quotes have appeared in the press

“I don’t really know, I haven’t got a lot to say on the match – Mark played a good game,” he said of the defeat in Berlin’s Tempodrom.

“Mark played well and I don’t really know why [it didn’t work for me]. My form had been okay on the practice table, but it [not transferring to the match] is just life.

“It’s great playing in the German Masters, I love being in it but now I have to go home.”

Well sometimes there isn’t an identifiable reason other than the fact that players are human and form is not a tap you can turn on when you want to be flowing… It was obvious how disappointed Ronnie was and he did try his best. Twice needing a ridiculous number of snookers he came back at the table, clearly not in the hope to win the frame but likely to try and regain a feel of the table. It didn’t work…