Two of the pre-tournament favourites for the German Masters have suffered early exits at the Tempodrom.
World number one Mark Selby lost out 5-3 to China's Xiao Guodong while the recently crowned Masters champion Mark Allen was pipped in a deciding-frame shootout against Matt Selt.
For Selby, his patchy form continues in a season where aside from winning the International Championship, he hasn’t really been firing on all cylinders.
He lost in the first round at Alexandra Palace two weeks ago and couldn’t get beyond the second round of the UK Championship in December – and now faces what looks like a race against time to hit top form for the defence of his World Championship defence beginning in April.
While the snooker calendar is littered with tournaments and earning opportunities these days, there’s still no denying that it’s the big one at The Crucible which really matters most. Selby has won the title on three of his last four visits and it is this record which has seen him gallop away at the top of the world rankings and assume a position of supremacy in the sport.
Selby knows the importance of getting his game right for this one and will be disappointed he couldn’t find some of the magic in Berlin.
For Allen, he was beaten by an impressive looking Selt who compiled a century and three further breaks over 50 to establish a 4-2 lead before eventually crawling over the line in a decider.
Never one to mince his words, Allen took to Twitter after his match to criticise the usually much-praised venue. He said: “So may hate/hate affair with the German Masters continues. Seriously hate the event!! So distracting for all players who aren’t on table 1. Will not be back at the event until the setup changes!!
“Such a shame by the way about Germany as it has the potential to be amazing!!! Great venue and packed crowds every day. Setup must change though.”
Although some people may see this as sour grapes from Allen, those who know him well will know this is not his style, but he’s not afraid to say what he really thinks. The Northern Irishman still has some work to do if he wants to guarantee his automatic qualification for The Crucible and will need to get results in the upcoming ranking events.
