We are roughly mid-way through the 2022 German Masters qualifiers and it’s time to have a look at what happened so far. All the detailed results are available on snooker.org.
This is the list of those who have already won two matches and have qualified:
- Tom Ford
- Stephen Maguire
- Anthony McGill
- Zhou Yuelong
- Mark Williams
- Jimmy Robertson
- Xao Xintong
- Kyren Wilson
- Judd Trump
- Michael Georgiou
- Craig Steadman
- Gao Yang
Jimmy Robertson and Michael Giorgiou – who is currently an amateur – are having a strong season so far. Anthony McGill has finally won matches this season, after admitting that he has struggled with motivation.
Gao Yang, who is only 17, played Stephen Hendry in the first round. He wasn’t intimidated and actually outplayed the 7 time World Champion in the tactical department. He then went on to beat his much more experienced compatriot Xiao Guodong. I’m increasingly wondering about Stephen Hendry’s motives for returning to competitive snooker. He claims that his dream is to return to the Crucible. That’s not gonna happen unless he accepts to change his approach to the game and he doesn’t seem to want to compromise on that approach. He’s giving far too many opportunities to his opponents by going for, and not getting, long pots, played without safety in mind.
Judd Trump was made to work yesterday. He was playing Anthony Hamilton and found himself 3-0 up in no time. But then Anthony started to play well and made life very difficult for him. Eventually Judd prevailed by 5-3. I was happy to see him give his opponent a lot of respect. He had to. Anthony scored a 130, the highest break of the match. “Ants” was heard congratulating Judd after the match, and wishing him to enjoy the Tempodrom. He also stated that “it was a pleasure (to play him)”. That’s the thing some fans don’t get: many of the older players enjoy competing even when the results are no more coming that often. Anthony certainly competed well yesterday once he got used to the conditions.
On Yee Ng made her debuts as a pro and lead Craig Steadman by 3-1 and 4-2 but then, to her own admission, nerves got the better of her, and she lost the last three frames. Hopefully she will learn from this and find a way to stay calm because I know that she is very capable.
Wu Yize, 18, who is in his first year as a pro, has only lost once in the first round so far. He completely outplayed Jamie Wilson. He’s due to face Luca Brecel today.
Lukas Kleckers was beaten by Yaun Sijun in the first round, but Simon Lichtenberg is still on course to play in his home tournament at the Tempodrom. He faces a tough challenge though as his second round opponent is Ricky Walden.
Amongts those who surprisingly didn’t qualify, we find Joe Perry, Gary Wilson, Stuart Bingham and Barry Hawkins.
Currently the highest break is 143, by Peter Devlin… in the only frame he won in this event.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Gao Yang’s win (against his mentor and flatmate) earns him another match with Judd Trump. I don’t know whether that’s a good thing, but it’s his best result so far.
Ng On Yee’s comments about nerves shows how difficult it is to win matches, even after a 4-2 lead. However, it’s not just a question of getting used to the pressure psychologically. It’s necessary to have a strong technique to be able to actually pot the balls in that situation. That’s not a quick fix, and it usually takes years not months.
But the qualification format is definitely better – playing on two consecutive days helps their standard, and is cheaper than having to travel to the venue twice.