The qualifying draw for the 2026 German Masters and how the format works

The main draw, televised stages of the 2026 German Masters are set for the iconic Tempodrom arena in Berlin between January 26th to February 1st, but before then, two-and-a-half qualifying rounds (we explain below) need to be completed in order to know the 48 players who can make travel plans for the capital city.

As was the case last season, the German Masters currently uses a tiered draw format - the same as seen at Home Nations Series events these days - meaning players enter the fray in different rounds depending on their seeding for the event.

A total of 128 cueists are set to feature in this year’s draw. The lowest ranked players start out in the opening round, with the winners of those matches going through to the last 96 where a new batch of contestants start their campaign.

The top 32 seeds for the competition all go straight through to the last 64 where they will meet the 32 players who emerge from round two (last 96).

In a change to this year’s staging, though, only the top 16 seeds in round three (last 64) will have their matches held over to the main venue in Berlin, whereas those positioned 17 to 32 will need to travel to Sheffield for their opening match of the event.

Who has entered the 2026 German Masters?

A star-studded field has entered this year’s staging, with all the world’s top 16 ranked players - except for Ding Junhui - putting their names down for the £550,400 world ranking event.

This includes reigning and defending champion Kyren Wilson; the world number two claimed his second German Masters crown last year when he ousted Barry Hawkins 10-9 in a thrilling final.

The most successful player in the tournament’s history is record three-time winner Judd Trump. The world number one is in the draw, and scheduled to play his first ranking match since appearing in the UK Championship final near the start of December.

An interesting entrant is seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, who memorably lifted this trophy in 2012 and recently spoke about this upcoming event in an interview.

O'Sullivan - who has not won a ranking event title since January 2024 - last appeared at the Tempodrom in 2017.

Who has to qualify for the TV stages at the Tempodrom?

Any entrant who is not a top 16 seed for this event will be scheduled to play at least one ‘qualifying’ match at Ponds Forge.

This includes world number 21 Ali Carter, a two-time winner of this title in 2013 and 2023.

Former finalists Stephen Maguire, Marco Fu, Luca Brecel, David Gilbert, Jack Lisowski, and Tom Ford will need to go via Sheffield in order to reach Berlin.

Recent Scottish Open runner-up Chang Bingyu starts the gauntlet at the first hurdle. Should the Chinese youngster defeat Oliver Brown, he would meet English teenager Stan Moody in a contest to determine who will face world number three Neil Robertson at the Tempodrom.

Snooker legends Jimmy White and Ken Doherty are both in the draw. If White can eliminate Huang Jiahao and then Sanderson Lam, the 63-year-old would set up a date with Mark Williams during the televised stages.

Currently, there are no German players with a professional tour card, although Umut Dikme came very close to earning promotion to the World Snooker Tour for the first time in his career at last year’s Q School.

As a consequence of finishing top of the Q School order of merit, Dikme has been invited to several professional events this season when organisers have been filling up entry quotas. He has an invite to his home event, although will need to navigate Jiang Jun and then Michael Holt in Sheffield to perform on home soil.

Should Dikme qualify for Berlin, he would share the baize with reigning world champion Zhao Xintong who won this title the last time he played in this tournament, in 2022.

For a match schedule - and results - of the qualifying rounds, visit the World Snooker Tour website here. All matches at the qualifiers are the best of nine frames with a scheduled mid-session interval after frame four.