Another day, another drawsheet and this time it is the German Masters, which returns to the Tempodrom in Berlin for the third time next February. As you will quickly realise, this time there is something of a twist, as the tournament will be staged in accordance with a brand new format, reducing the amount of rounds that qualifiers are required to come through…
- Click here to view the drawsheet for the 2013 German Masters
As announced by Barry Hearn at the Crucible in April, this season both the German Masters and Welsh Open tournaments will operate under a brand new format, reducing the amount of qualifying rounds to just two.
So how will it work?
Round 1 will see 64 players involved, with those ranked 33-64 taking on those ranked 65-96 at the Academy for a place in the second round. The 32 successful qualifiers will then meet those seeded 1-32 in round 2, again at the Academy (with a few exceptions), for a place in the last 32 in Berlin.
While it will be interesting to hear the reactions of the players to the new system, for me this is a positive move, allowing those ranked further down the list the chance to make it to a venue and a match with a top player by winning one or two matches, rather than the usual three or four.
Importantly, the fact that those matches involving the top eight seeds (as well as that involving Dominic Dale for some reason), have been held over to the venue means that the television companies and sponsors are still assured of having the big names at the tournament.
Whether the format will prove popular remains to be seen, but with Hearn’s emphasis on ‘fairness’ and preference for the format employed in PTC events, I would expect the drawsheets to continue to flatten out in future seasons.
What do you think to the new format? Hit or miss? Are there any drawbacks?