Editing German Masters (section)

== History ==
[[File:Tempodrom.jpg|thumb|The event has been held at the [[Tempodrom]] in Berlin since [[2011 German Masters|2011]].]]

The tournament started as the '''German Open''' and was a [[List of snooker ranking tournaments|ranking tournament]] from 1995 to 1997. The first event was played in [[Frankfurt]] in December 1995, replacing the [[European Open (snooker)|European Open]] in the December place in the calendar, the European Open being moved to early 1996.<ref name=cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk>{{cite web|last=Turner|first=Chris|title=Major European Tournaments |url=http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Euro.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120216155305/http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Euro.html |archive-date=16 February 2012 |work=cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk |publisher=Chris Turner's Snooker Archive |access-date=30 November 2021}}</ref> The tournament involved the top 16 players in the world ranking who were joined by 16 qualifiers and 4 wild-card players. The four lowest ranked qualifiers played the wild-card players, winning all their four matches and advancing to the last-32.<ref name=go1995/> [[John Higgins]] met [[Ken Doherty]] in the final. The match was level at three frame each before Higgins won the next six frames to win 9–3 and take the first prize of £40,000. Higgins made a break of 139 in the final to also win the high break prize of £5,000.<ref name=go1995/>

The 1996 event was again held in December, at the British military base at [[Osnabrück]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/89737642/the-guardian/ |title=Snooker |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=10 December 1996 |page=22 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> Only 16 players competed in Germany. The final qualifying round in which the top-16 seeds played 16 players from earlier qualifying rounds was played in [[Preston, Lancashire]] in November.<ref name=go1996/> [[Ronnie O'Sullivan]] met [[Alain Robidoux]] in the final, winning 9–7. O'Sullivan led 7–3 before Robidoux won the next four frames to level the match at 7–7. O'Sullivan then won the next two frames to win the match, finishing with a break of 108. Robidoux took the high break prize for a break of 145 in the final.<ref name=go1996/>

[[File:2014 German Masters-Venue (LF)-06.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|View of the setup during the [[2014 German Masters|2014 event]].]]

The 1997 event was held in [[Bingen am Rhein]] using the same format as in 1996. The final qualifying round was held in [[Hereford]] in September.<ref name=go1997/> [[John Higgins]] met [[John Parrott]] in the final, Higgins led 5–3 lead after the first session and then won the first three frames in the evening session to lead 8–3. Parrott won frame 12 but Higgins finished the match with a break of 105 in the next frame, winning the first prize of £50,000.<ref name=go1997/> In 1998 the event was again held at Bingen am Rhein but became an invitation event with 12 players competing. The name of the tournament was changed to '''German Masters'''. The winner received £25,000 with all 12 players guaranteed a minimum of £5,000.<ref name=gm1998/> [[John Parrott]] beat [[Mark Williams (snooker player)|Mark Williams]] 6–4 in the final. Williams led 4–3 but Parrott won the next three to win the match.<ref name=gm1998/> The event then was discontinued, but returned for the [[Snooker season 2010/2011|2010/2011 season]] as a ranking tournament.

The revived tournament has been held at the [[Tempodrom]] in [[Berlin]] since the [[2011 German Masters|2011 edition]].{{efn|The [[2021 German Masters|2021]] event moved to the [[Marshall Arena]] in [[Milton Keynes]], England, due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://wst.tv/milton-keynes-to-host-wst-events/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201222170819/https://wst.tv/milton-keynes-to-host-wst-events/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 22, 2020 |title=Milton Keynes to host WST events |publisher=World Snooker |date=22 December 2020 |access-date=22 December 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=German Masters snooker 2021: Draw, schedule, results |url=https://www.eurosport.com/snooker/german-masters/2020-2021/german-masters-snooker-2021-draw-schedule-results-judd-trump-john-higgins-ding-junhui-playing_sto8083524/ |date=31 January 2021 |access-date=15 December 2024 |work=[[Eurosport]]}}</ref>}} The trophy was named after former [[World Snooker Tour]] director Brandon Parker in 2021.<ref>{{cite web|title=German Masters Trophy Named After Brandon Parker |url=https://www.wst.tv/german-masters-trophy-to-be-named-after-brandon-parker/ |date=26 January 2021 |work=[[World Snooker Tour]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231230101101/https://wst.tv/german-masters-trophy-to-be-named-after-brandon-parker/ |archive-date=30 December 2023 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The event had traditionally been run as a five-day event (from Wednesday to Sunday) with the format being a flat-128 player draw and the first two rounds played as qualifiers away from the venue sometime before the main event. The format received occasional criticism over the years,{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} but the [[2023 German Masters]] received notable criticism{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} as a result of many top players failing to reach the main stages of the tournament and [[Ronnie O'Sullivan]] withdrawing before his first round qualifying match. This led to only four players ranked inside the top 16 appearing in the main draw, two of whom failed to progress beyond the Last 16.

Following those criticisms and with support of the promoter SnookerStars.de, the World Snooker Tour confirmed that the televised stages of the tournament were to be increased from its normal five days to the traditional seven days.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CoNkXJVrtbS/ | title=Snookerstars on Instagram: "German Masters 2024 wird ein 7 Tage Event! Wir verlängern unser Weltranglisten Turnier! Das heißt mehr Spieler und somit mehr Stars in Berlin! Tickets ab 10.02.22 unter www.snookerstars.de! Wir freuen uns auf euch! #snooker #snookerplayer #berlin #snookerlove #tempodrom #2024 #tickets" }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://wst.tv/2024-german-masters-extended-to-seven-days | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230204143011/https://wst.tv/2024-german-masters-extended-to-seven-days/ | url-status=dead | archive-date=4 February 2023 | title=2024 German Masters Extended to Seven Days | date=5 February 2023 }}</ref>