The German Masters, the last counting ranking event in the Race to the World Grand Prix, gets under way on Wednesday in Berlin.
A total of 32 players have qualified for the Tempodrom in what is often regarded as one of the most liked tournaments on the calendar.
The German Masters is celebrating its 10th edition since relaunching in 2011 and the likes of Judd Trump, Neil Robertson, and Mark Williams are in action.
While the title is the main thing to battle for in the upcoming few days, this year’s German Masters does take on added significance as part of the new European Series and also as the final event in the Race to the World Grand Prix.
The latter competition takes place in Cheltenham next week, the first in the popular Coral Cup series.
The World Grand Prix features the highest earning 32 players from ranking events this season.
Later in the campaign, the top 16 in the one-year list will compete in the Players Championship before a prestigious Tour Championship that is reserved for only the best eight is held.
The majority of places for the World Grand Prix have been secured already with every player from Trump in first to Zhao Xintong in 26th guaranteed to qualify.
Mark Selby, Ding Junhui, Stuart Bingham, and Ronnie O’Sullivan are among the others who will compete at the Cheltenham Racecourse next week.
Michael Holt, in 27th place provisionally, is the first competitor who could miss out but would only do so if a specific and rather unlikely set of results materialises in Germany.
In 32nd spot and desperately holding onto the last position is China’s Li Hang, who like Holt hasn’t qualified for the German Masters, meaning his fate is out of his hands.
Luckily for the 29 year-old, there’s nobody within touching distance of his £50,500 tally.
Anthony McGill, Luca Brecel, and seven others require a minimum of a semi-final appearance to break into the bracket.
However, with £80,000 on offer for the champion this week, everyone all the way down to Jamie Clarke in last place could potentially leapfrog into contention.
