Kyren Wilson ousts Barry Hawkins to become a double German Masters champion


It was the first time in the tournament's 15-year history that the final went to a deciding frame, and it was the world number two who got the verdict to lift the Brandon Parker Trophy and pocket a £100,000 top prize. Having previously won this accolade in 2019, 'The Warrior' becomes the fourth multiple-time German Masters champion.
The Englishman came to this event just several days after being denied a maiden Masters crown when he finished runner-up to Shaun Murphy at the Alexandra Palace. In a post-match interview following defeat in London, Wilson immediately turned his attention to his trip to mainland Europe where he has replied in brilliant fashion this week.
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Wilson was made to work very hard during his opening assignments in the German capital, coming through each of his first three matches by only a couple of frames, before pipping Anthony McGill via a decider in the quarter-finals. Xiao Guodong - one of the players of this season - was comfortably dispatched 6-2 in the last four.
Emerging from the other side of the draw was world number 12 Hawkins, who like Wilson was close to a Triple Crown title earlier this 2024/25 term when he missed out on UK Championship glory to Judd Trump at the start of December. 'The Hawk' had a similar route to the final, negotiating close encounters early on before a 6-2 win over Yuan Sijun in the semi-finals - although he did have to recover from 2-0 down early on in that tie.
Breaks of 67 and 62 helped Wilson get off to a brilliant start as he established a 2-0 lead, but Hawkins replied, opening his account when taking the next two frames (53 break - frame three) to go into the first mid-session interval level at 2-2.
On resumption, Wilson edged in front, although Hawkins struck back - a run of 75 assisting him in frame six - before he went ahead for the first time at 4-3 up.
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A high-quality finish to the afternoon session ensued; Wilson fashioned a 128 for parity but it was Hawkins who won the session, 5-4, after an effort of 102.
Play continued a few hours later, and it Wilson (93, 125) who bossed the table time during the opening mini session as he claimed three of the four frames to nudge ahead once more at 7-6 up, despite Hawkins pinching frame 12 on the final black with a 27 clearance after Wilson crucially missed a pink off the final red.
Back came Hawkins, though, as he too notched up his second century break of the fixture (100), in frame 14 to level. The back-and-forth nature of the contest continued as the pair traded frames; Wilson reached the hill first at 9-8 up, but Hawkins appropriately forced the showpiece all the way, much to the delight of the engrossed Temprodrom faithful.
Following a false start with a rerack, Hawkins missed a red at distance at the beginning of the deciding frame and sent the cueball crashing into the pack of reds to leave Wilson a scoring opportunity.
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Despite the black being out of commission near the top cushion, the 33-year-old accrued points, but whilst on a break of 59, he failed with a plant when within touching distance of the finish line. However, Hawkins immediately went in-off after potting a red, and Wilson - this time - was successful with another plant to leave his opponent needing penalty points. Moments later after further balls had been potted by Wilson, the handshake arrived.
WHAT AN ENDING! 🤯
— WST (@WeAreWST) February 2, 2025
Here's how the first ever German Masters final decider concluded! 🇩🇪#GermanMasters | @Machineseeker pic.twitter.com/0O6J55AVNm
Since winning the sport's blue riband title for the first time in Sheffield last spring, Wilson has taken his game to a new level, and not been affected by the pressures and expectations of being a reigning world champion.
The ninth ranking title of his career, Wilson makes it a hat-trick of rankers this campaign following triumphs at the Xi'an Grand Prix in China and Northern Ireland Open in Belfast. He is just the third first-time World Champion - after Stephen Hendry and Judd Trump - to have won a trio of ranking titles whilst wearing the Crucible crown.
Four of Wilson's nine ranking accolades have been secured in Germany; he won the 2018 Paul Hunter Classic and 2022 European Masters titles both in Furth.
For the full results from the 2025 German Masters, please visit our tournament information centre here.
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