"Ich bin ein Berliner!" - Snooker returns to Germany

On your marks, get set, cue for action!

A few more hours and the beautiful snooker madness of having no less than 32 players in the Tempodrom arena from Berlin, will become a living reality.

The 6^th biggest ranking event of the snooker calendar, as mentioned by World Snooker, the German Masters has become a genuine exhibition of thrilling snooker, overexcited fans and millions of viewers glued to their TV screens worldwide.

So no wonder Germany is over the moon to welcome back snooker and unlike last year, we do have a sponsor for the show - Kreativ Dental.

This year we have China's best, Ding Junhui as reigning champion (last year he beat a pretty merciful Judd Trump by 9-5) taking on Welshman Ryan Day and although he surely is favourite to win, taking into account his latest performance this has probably been Ding's worst season ever.

Still, there's a pretty good chance to see him win the match, even if Day will make him work for it.

Another favourite to enter the stage is of course Ronnie O'Sullivam, the Rocket also acting as a television pundit for EuroSport, when possible.

The reigning champion, Ding Junhui

However, his biggest challenge is going to be to re-enter the zone of winning and playing more of his amazing snooker. Easier said than done, for his first opponent is Mark Davis, the man who beat the Rocket just a few days ago in the Championship League Group Five stages.

Davis comes with his head held high to Berlin, the Englishman admitting that although his season has had a lot of  "ups and downs" he still believes to make a difference and get some silverware really soon.

Shaun Murphy, the recent winner of the Masters, is also one to set your eyes on, "The Magician" facing Michael Wasley in the first round. Needless to say that if he brings the same attitude and "hunger" for winning to the table, no-one will stand in his way.

A very interesting match and one I personally look forward to see is the one featuring the names of John Higgins and Peter Ebdon.

It's no secret that Higgins' form has deteriorated in latest years, but we had the chance to see a quite different player just a few weeks ago during the Masters. 

With a new tip added to his cue and a slightly different way of bridging, the Scotsman performed quite well against Mark Allen, his only flaw being the fact he hasn't played enough in recent tournaments and there's still a touch of rustiness there.

The majestic Tempodrom arena

It's going to be interesting to see if John's really after a speedy recovery and how well he will cope with such a mentally strong opponent (not to mention really slow) like Ebdon.

The usual big names, such as Neil Robertson and Mark Selby, or Judd Trump and Stephen Maguire are also the ones to look forward to see playing on the green baize, especially since Selby's recent performance is still a bit shabby, Trump's Masters journey ended up in the very first round, while Robertson's Masters final didn't do him justice. Come on lads, give us some fireworks!

To all the aforementioned matches, of course there are many more that will definitely keep us on tenterhooks and promise to make us go "wow". I always say that matches that at first hand don't seem to be very entertaining, often turn out to be quite the opposite.

So be sure to watch as much snooker a possible (doctor's orders) and for those lucky enough to be in the audience, I'm looking forward to your thoughts. Write comments here on the blog, on Facebook or on my email address and tell me how are you enjoying your snooker.

Wednesday match schedule:

2pm
Martin Gould v. Ashley Cartly
John Higgins v. Peter Ebdon
Anthony McGill v. Mark Selby

7pm
Neil Robertson v. Fergal O'Brien
Xiao Guodong v. Liam Highfield
Stephen Maguire v. David Gilbert
Mark King v. Barry Hawkins
Judd Trump v. Michael Holt

* all hours are UK time