Anthony McGill, Zak Surety, James O’Neill, and Zhou Yuelong in the first round of matches at the ongoing German Masters’ Qualifiers at the Chase Leisure Centre in Cannock.

The qualifying rounds for the BetVictor German Masters got underway on Monday, October 18th, and will run until Tuesday, October 26th.

Anthony McGill defeated Louis Heathcote 5-2 in best of 9 frames. McGill won the first two frames. However, Heathcote fought back and levelled the scores. But it was not be a comeback for Heathcote, as McGill won the next three frames convincingly.

Meanwhile, it was a tough one between Jamie O’Neill and Hammad Miah. O’Neill began in terrific form, winning the first three frames, but Miah levelled matters immediately. O’Neill won the next frame, to lead on a 4-3 scoreline, however, Miah equalized to send the game into a decider. James O’Neill emerged victorious in the decider with a break of 61.

English snooker player, Zak Surety defeated Mark Joyce 5-2. Surety achieved the highest break of his career (133) at the German Masters in 2015.

Zhou Yuelong emphatically saw off Peter Devlin with a 5-1 thrashing. The 23-year-old Chinese snooker player wasted no time in dispatching Devlin.

The German Masters qualifiers is poised to be a star-studded affair over the coming days, as the world’s top players battling it out in Cannock for the chance to advance to the Tempodrom in Berlin in January for the main event.

The main stages of the event run from 26-30 January in the famous venue in Berlin. However, players are expected to get through two rounds of qualifying for the opportunity to play in front of the rowdy German crowd. They will all try to claim the title and the £80,000 top prize.

Other qualifying matches will see Judd Trump, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Mark Selby,  Neil Robertson, Shaun Murphy, John Higgins, Mark Allen, Kyren Wilson, Mark Williams, and many more in action over the nine days, each needing to win two matches to make it to Berlin in January.

Written by: Collins Nwokolo