He 3 February will start the German Masters 2.016, fifth ranking tournament of the season 2.015/2.016, at the Tempodrom in Berlin, and it will end 7 February.

Held for the first time in 1.995, It was originally called the German Open and was a ranking tournament for the first three editions. In 1.998 It was renamed the German Masters and became a non-ranking tournament. After this he was suspended and resumed in the season 2.010/2.011, keeping the name and becoming ranked again. Since that season it has been held at the Tempodrom in Berlin, being the current champion Mark Selby.

The 32 players competing for 60.000 pounds of award (80.000 euros) have entered the tournament after playing the qualifying last december.

It should be noted that of the players that make up the Top 10 five of them do not compete in the tournament due to having been eliminated in the qualifying rounds: Neil Robertson (eliminated at the hands of amateur player Ashley Hugill), Ronnie O’Sullivan (eliminated by Stuart Carrington), John Higgins (removed by Ian Burns), Ding Junhui (eliminated by Tian Pengfei) Y Joe Perry (eliminated by Rory McLeod).

Likewise, the following players of the Top 16 (in addition to the aforementioned Robertson, O’Sullivan, Higgins, Ding and Perry): Ricky Walden Y Michael White.

FRAME, SESSIONS and MATCHES
The confrontations were established as follows after the completion of the qualifying rounds:

http://www.worldsnooker.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Click-here-for-the-draw3.pdf

Below you have the sessions and clashes of the Round 1. The schedules are those that appear in the images:

FORMAT

All matches in the round 1, Ronda 2 and Quarterfinals are played to the best of 9 frames (5 cattle); the semifinals to the best of 11 (6 cattle) Final and best-of 17, divided into two sessions of 8 Y 9 frames each.

EUROSPORT TELEVISIVE COVERAGE

The tournament will be broadcast on Eurosport channels 1 and Eurosport 2, present on certain payment platforms, with the following coverage (subject to any changes or variations that the chain may make):

Wednesday 3 February
EUROSPORT 1: of the 16:15 at 17:00 h. (direct).
EUROSPORT 2: of the 14:00 at 16:00 h. (direct); starting at 21:45 h. (direct).

Thursday 4 February:
EUROSPORT 1: of the 14:00 at 15:00 h. (deferred); of the 15.00 at 18:00 h. (direct); starting at 20:30 h. (direct).
EUROSPORT 2: of the 10:00 at 13:00 h. (direct).

Friday 5 February:
EUROSPORT 1: of the 04:00 at 05:30 h. (deferred); of the 13:00 at 14:00 h. (deferred); of the 14:00 at 17:15 (direct); starting at 20:30 h. (direct).
EUROSPORT 2: of the 00:00 to 01:00 h. (deferred); of the 06:00 at 07:30 h. (deferred); of the 11:00 at 12:30 h. (deferred).

Saturday 6 February:
EUROSPORT 1: starting at 21:30 h. (direct).
EUROSPORT 2: of the 13:00 at 14:00 h. (deferred); of the 14:00 at 17:00 h. (direct).

Sunday 7 February:
EUROSPORT 1: starting at 23:45 h. (deferred).
EUROSPORT 2: of the 14:00 at 17:00 (direct); starting at 20:00 h. (direct).

LINKS
These are the links through which you can follow the match live.

Eurosport Player: both Eurosport Player and Eurosport TV channels offer commentary in Spanish.
You can subscribe to the Eurosport payment channel for just 6,99 € / month (59,88 € / year).

http://www.eurosportplayer.es/

Scores:
http://livescores.worldsnookerdata.com/LiveScoring/Tournament/13856/german-masters

RESULTS

WEDNESDAY, 3 FEBRUARY 2.016

Session 14:00 h.: Ronda 1

The noon session opened with the televised match between Mark Selby, champion of the last edition and current world number one, and young Steven Hallworth, who had managed to reach the final stages of the tournament after eliminating Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Andy Hicks in the qualifiers. The other two games of the session were: Stephen Maguire v Ken Doherty y Grame Dott v Tian Pengfei.

And the results of the first three games left very similar scores, as you can see. Both Selby, Maguire and Dott won their respective matches with ease and comfort to access the next round., developing a great game that gave his rivals no options. It should be noted the high level of the world champion of 2.006, Scotsman Graeme Dott, that got breaks above the 50 points in all frames and that he closed his match with the first hundred of the tournament (102).

Mark Selby v Steven Hallworth

Little could the young Lincoln player do against the defending champion. Mark Selby started the game with authority and gave Hallworth no truce, gaining one frame after another until putting the 5-0 on the scoreboard, with 432 points scored against 41 of his rival.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VW-FeCcKBwg

Session 20:00 h.: Ronda 1

The night session brought surprises: they were eliminated, in the decider, the top 16 Shaun Murphy (tournament runner-up in 2.015) y Mark Williams (tournament champion in 2.011) at the hands of Ben Woollaston and Martin Gould respectively. The other players who qualified for the last 16 were Barry Hawkins, Judd Trump y Zhang Anda, who got their pass to the next round with looser results. The televised match for this session was Judd Trump v Allister Carter..

Judd Trump v Ali Carter

Trump, just like Selby had done in his opening game, began his career in the final rounds of the German Masters displaying a great snooker. With three inputs of 20, 27 Y 41 points took the first frame. In the second and third frames he did not give Captain Ali Carter a chance, taking both frames with great breaks, like that of the third frame that became the first hundred televised of this edition.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33DuiUOQF5I

The fourth frame was very fought. Carter, tournament champion in 2.013, had the opportunity not to walk away with a blank scoreboard after the break and have some option to change the color of the match after the break. Finally Trump won the battle and put the 4-0 on the scoreboard, what was a 5-0 after the break when the Bristol lefty sealed the game with a break of 80 points.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPninSYT6_E

THURSDAY, 4 FEBRUARY 2.016

Session 10:00 h.: Ronda 1

The first ranking tournament of 2.016 does not stop giving us surprises. If the day before the top 16 Murphy y Williams, in this morning's session two more were left out of the title race: Mark Allen [11] and Marco Fu [13].
The Northern Irishman lost to the English player Mark Joyce for 5-2, in a match where both players achieved the highest hundreds of the tournament this year so far (121 the Allen y 119 by Joyce).
For its part, Norwegian player Kurt Muflin won by a comfortable 5-1 a Fu, in a game where there were also hundreds (106 of Fu and 101 by Maflin).
In the televised game, Belgian Luca Brecel has secured his pass to the next round after beating young Chinese player Zhao Xintong by 5-2.

Luca Brecel v Zhao Xintong

The young Belgian player began the game by winning the first two frames with breaks of 52 Y 92 points respectively, hinting to young amateur Xintong that he wasn't going to make it easy for him. After a good third frame from the Chinese player, Brecel put the 3-1 on the scoreboard to go into halftime with a comfortable lead; lead that increased in the fifth frame (4-1). Zhao Xintong fought the next frame and managed to take it away, but the Belgian was not willing to give more opportunities and closed the game with a break of 88, thus getting his pass to the next round.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = GvRsc6_RWF0&feature=youtu.be&a

Session 15:00 h.: Ronda 1

The midday session was the last one where first round matches were played and brought the elimination of another top 16: Liang Wenbo [15], trailed 5-3 versus Welsh Ryan Day.
Michael Holt, Mark King (with a hundred included) and Kyren Wilson won their matches by identical and close result (5-4), eliminando a Ian Burns, Stuart Carrington y Rory McLeod, respectively.

The televised match this session was Stuart Bingham v Fergal O'Brien.

Stuart Bingham v Fergal O’Brien

The current world champion began his match with great authority: I won the first two frames achieving a hundred (109) in the first.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = nn7TxddbUeg&feature=share

But nevertheless, Irishman O'Brien shortened the gap by taking the next two, placing the 2-2 on the scoreboard with a fantastic hundred (113) just before the break.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = cRp1A1N0GaI&feature=share

After the break, Stuart Bingham managed to win consecutively the three frames he needed to advance to the next round; frames that were very fought by O'Brien, who made several mistakes in the last two frames that allowed Bingham to win by a final score of 5-2.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = jVwT6-lLXnc&feature=youtu.be&a

Session 20:00 h.: Eighth

With the night session the clashes of the round of 16 began. The first three players qualified for the quarterfinals were: Martin Gould, who won by a forceful 5-0 a Woollaston; Judd Trump, who made a sensational match with three hundred in the last three frames (104, 125 Y 120) to win by 5-1 a Zhang you, getting the highest hundred of the edition so far and getting on the verge of making a 147 when he let himself snooker upon reaching the 120 points; and Graeme Dott, that eliminated Barry Hawkins for 5-3.

The fourth classified left the televised game: Mark Selby v Stephen Maguire

Mark Selby v Stephen Maguire

The match between the defending champion and Maguire was very close during the first half. Selby won the first and third frames, with two good breaks of 90 Y 87, and Maguire took the second and fourth (with breaks of 68 Y 54 points respectively) to go to rest with a tie 2 on the scoreboard. After the break, Selby scored the fifth frame with two innings of 45 Y 58 points, to which the Scotsman responded quickly by taking the sixth with a break of 83 points. Stephen Maguire, who failed to develop his best game throughout the match, managed to win the next two frames and take the game by a final score of 5-3. In this way he left out of the race to revalidate the title to Mark Selby and managed to access the quarterfinals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjbAt3L_iv8

FRIDAY, 5 FEBRUARY 2.016

Session 14:00 h.: Eighth

The first session of the day began with the last matches of the round of 16, where the remaining players qualified for the quarterfinals came from, what were: Luca Brecel, by beating Kurt Maflin for 5-3; Mark Joyce, who eliminated his compatriot Mark King by a comfortable score of 5-2 and achieved two great breaks of 105 Y 104 points in the fifth and seventh frames, respectively; Kyren Wilson, who achieved victory over Holt in the decider after a highly disputed match; and Welsh player Ryan Day.

The televised match of the session was Stuart Bingham v Ryan Day.

SATURDAY, 6 FEBRUARY 2.016

First Semifinal: 14:00 h.

Graeme Dott 2 (11) 6 Martin Gould:

61-26, 84-9, 65-15, 87-32 (87), 29-65, 80-17 (53), 20-69, 44-35

After a somewhat blocked start to the game, Martin Gould won the first frame; two entrances on the table, from 46 Y 38 points, they made me get the second frame; Dott's constant mistakes were taken advantage of by the London player, that also won the third frame; Graeme Dott had a chance to take the fourth frame, but a new mistake when wearing 32 points had Gould come to the table and do a cleanup with a big break of 87 points. A) Yes, the English player got a comfortable advantage before going to rest (4-0).

Dott shortened the lead after the break by winning the fifth frame, but a break from 53 points put the 5-1 on the scoreboard in favor of Gould; the Scottish player tried to pressure his rival by winning the seventh frame but, although he had numerous occasions in the eighth and was up on the scoreboard, new mistakes allowed Gould to enter the table and win the match.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v = m3jvvHoDmEs&feature=youtu.be&a

In this way, Martin Gould qualified for his third ranking final. (the first one he played in 2.011 in the Grand Final of the PTC and the second in 2.015 en el Australian Goldfields Open), after beating Scotsman Graeme Dott, that he was not at his best level and did not seem to feel comfortable at any point in the game, by 6-2 at the Tempodrom in Berlin.

Second Semifinal: 20:00 h.

Luca Brecel 6 (11) 3 Kyren Wilson

57-49, 105-25, 92-19, 2-66, 22-66, 76-1 (67), 39-83, 63-14 (63), 61-52 (KW 51)

Both players started the game very cautiously, in a frame that lasted three-quarters of an hour and ended up with Luca Brecel, taking advantage of a defensive error by Kyren Wilson, after an intense tactical battle with the pink ball. Both the Belgian and the English fought the following frames, but it was Brecel who won the next two, positioning himself with a comfortable advantage on the scoreboard 3-0. Wilson managed to win the frame before and after the break (3-2), what got him into the fight to reach the final, but Brecel was again two frames ahead by taking the sixth with a break winning of 67 points (4-2). An error by the Belgian in the next frame allowed the English player to shorten distances (4-3), but Brecel responded by winning the eighth with another good break of 63 points and was placed just one frame from the final. The ninth frame began with dominance of the Belgian player, wore 43 puntos embocados consecutivamente cuando fallaba una roja a tronera central, que permitió entrar en la mesa a Wilson; cuando el jugador inglés llevaba anotados 51 puntos cometió un error de emplazamiento tras embocar la amarilla final que hizo que fallase el tiro a la verde; Luca Brecel, con gran calma, embocó una tras otra las bolas de color que necesitaba (todas menos la negra) para ganar el frame y el partido y poner el 6-3 on the scoreboard.

Con esta victoria Luca Brecel se convierte en el primer jugador belga en alcanzar una final de ranking y en el segundo jugador de Europa, sin contar Reino Unido e Irlanda, que lo logra (Tony Drago fue el primero).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9-n9Pgt6yg

SUNDAY, 7 FEBRUARY 2.016

FINAL: MARTIN GOULD (17) LUCA BRECEL

Martin Gould [20] y Luca Brecel [36] se enfrentaban en la final, Best of 17 frames, por las 60.000 libras de premio y el título, que para ambos sería su primer título de ranking.

1MEETING: 21-96 (68), 55-50, 52-41, 72-1 (72), 31-73 (51), 83-0 (83), 54-63 (59), 104-4 (104)

Comenzaba la Final del German Masters, la tercera final de ranking que alcanzaba Martin Gould en su carrera y la primera para el joven jugador belga, que ganaba el primer frame del encuentro con un break de 68 e inauguraba el marcador (0-1); los finalistas no encontraron su mejor snooker en el segundo frame, desaprovechando ambos bastantes oportunidades, con muchos intercambios que hicieron que el frame se alargase y que finalmente se decidió en la negra final a favor de Gould para poner el empate a 1 on the scoreboard; el jugador inglés ganaba los dos siguientes frames, con una limpieza de mesa de 39 puntos en el tercero y un break de 72 in the room, para irse al descanso liderando el marcador por 3-1.

El frame posterior al descanso fue ganado por Luca Brecel, con break de 51 puntos incluido, frame muy importante pues le colocaba a tan sólo uno de Gould (3-2); but nevertheless, un error al comienzo del sexto frame permitía al jugador inglés entrar en la mesa, frenar el juego de Brecel, poner el 4-2 en el marcador con un fantástico break de 83 puntos y volver a ponerse dos frames arriba; parecía que el londinense iba a aumentar aún más su ventaja pero un fallo de emplazamiento, tras embocar azul cuando el marcador iba 54-4 a su favor, hizo que el jugador belga entrase en la mesa y le diese la vuelta al frame, ganándolo con un break de 59 points including cleaning table (4-3); pero Gould no tardó en reaccionar y cerraba la primera sesión de la final con una magnífica centena (104), la primera del partido, putting 5-3 on the scoreboard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9czg8hhGoys&feature=share

2MEETING: 129-0 (110), 58-0, 39-76 (55), 66-32, 56-69 (56, 63), 78-0

La sesión definitiva empezó tal y como había acabado la anterior: with a hundred (110) de Gould, la segunda de la final, que también ganó el noveno frame, colocándose con una clara y cómoda ventaja frente a su rival de cuatro frames (7-3).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LCSdnv4lEU&feature=share

En el undécimo frame, tras haber anotado 39 points, Gould fallaba al intentar embocar rosa; eso permitió la entrada de Brecel en mesa, que acabó llevándose el frame y acortando distancias con respecto a su rival (7-4). Los dos jugadores tuvieron oportunidades de llevarse el duodécimo frame, pero fue Gould el que mejor las aprovechó, ante la falta de tensión de su rival que podría haberse ido al descanso con una diferencia de tan sólo dos frames, y volvía a ponerse 4 frames por delante (8-4).

Tras el intervalo del descanso parecía que Martin Gould tenía la victoria en sus manos en el decimotercero frame; después de hacer un break de 56 points, un mal emplazamiento tras embocar la negra daba la oportunidad al jugador belga de entrar en la mesa, que no la desaprovechó (hizo una entrada de 63 points, fallando la última rosa, pero otro fallo de Gould le daba otra nueva oportunidad a Brecel, que embocaba la bola y conseguía los puntos necesarios para ganar el frame), y colocaba el 8-5 on the scoreboard. En el decimocuarto frame el jugador siguió llevando la iniciativa en el juego, lo que le fue permitiendo ir embocando bolas. A pesar de que Brecel tuvo oportunidades no supo aprovechar ninguna (por momentos parecía que el jugador belga estaba fuera del partido) y Martin Gould acabó alzándose con la victoria: 9-5.

El German Masters supone el primer título de ranking en la carrera de Martin Gould, su vuelta al Top 16 (tras el torneo se ha colocado en el puesto 15, desplazando fuera a Michael White) y embolsarse el premio de 60.000 pounds (80.000 euros).

Enhorabuena, Martin!

CHAMPIONS
Estos son los jugadores que han ganado el torneo en sus distintas ediciones:

A continuación os dejamos la final entre Martin Gould y Luca Brecel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69kjjTTDXrw