Who qualified for the 2025 German Masters Snooker? Young and experienced stars shine in Sheffield

Having taken place at Ponds Forge in Sheffield across four days, a total of 32 players qualified and can now make travel plans for the main venue stages of the £550,400 ranking event at the iconic Tempodrom in Berlin between January 27 to February 2. These 32 players will line-up alongside and face the top 32 seeds in the round of 64 in Germany.

There was an eclectic mix of successful cueists in Sheffield, with several young prospects making it through, as well as some of the World Snooker Tour's most experienced exponents.

Rookie professional Antoni Kowalski continued his decent run of form as he made it through.

The 20-year-old from Poland recovered from 3-0 down to eventually edge out Ian Burns 5-4, before whitewashing last season's Welsh Open finalist Martin O'Donnell 5-0.

Another newbie to the sport's top tier this season, 18-year-old Artemijs Zizins survived back-to-back deciding frame finishes to book his spot for the televised stages in Germany.

The Q School graduate from Latvia pipped fellow rookie Kreishh Gurbaxani 5-4 first up before squeezing past ranking event winner Matthew Selt 5-4 in the final qualifying round.

Another rookie in the shape of Hong Kong's Ka Wai Cheung also qualified; he eliminated compatriot Marco Fu 5-3 and then former German Masters champion Anthony Hamilton 5-2.

It has been a crazy few weeks for 20-year-old Liam Graham, a second-season professional.

The Scot was a surprise runner-up at the recent Snooker Shoot Out, having never previously been past the last 32 of a ranking event. At Ponds Forge this week, Graham wrote more snooker headlines when he produced a huge comeback in the first round, winning five frames in-a-row from 4-0 down to stun Ma Hailong with a 5-4 victory.

Graham then followed up that recovery win with a 5-4 success over Sanderson Lam to qualify.

Dylan Emery - who doesn't currently have a pro tour card and was playing as a Q School top-up - ousted fellow Welshman Jamie Clarke at the final hurdle to book his Berlin berth.

Another player from Wales, Jackson Page has had a breakthrough 2024 having reached his maiden ranking event final during it. He'll be Germany-bound too in several weeks time.

It wasn't just the youngsters who were having fun in Yorkshire, though, with seasoned cueists David Lilley, Ken Doherty, Dominic Dale, Graeme Dott and Mark Davis all securing progression through to the main venue.

1997 World Champion Doherty had a very eventful route through. The 55-year-old - who had surgery on a hernia just several weeks ago - led recent British Open semi-finalist Oliver Lines 4-0, before Lines brought it all the way back to 4-4 to force a deciding frame.

53 points down in that final frame, it appeared as if Doherty was going to be on the receiving end of a difficult comeback defeat. However, the Irishman rolled back the years and showed his class with a brilliant counter clearance of 66 to win on the final black.

The next day, Doherty was put through another final frame finish when he faced former Welsh Open champion Jordan Brown, but once again he got the winning verdict.

For the full results from the 2025 German Masters qualifying, please visit our information centre here.