On November 26th, the qualifying tournaments of the German Masters of the World Snooker Tour this season were completed, and all the players who advanced to the round of 32 were born. The Chinese team performed well on the final matchday, with a total of six players playing in the tiebreaker, with only Ding Junhui losing and the other five winning all to advance, including Fan Zhengyi and Li Xing, eliminating seeded Murphy and Hawkins respectively. So far, in the round of 32 of the German Masters, the Chinese Legion has as many as 12 people, setting a record for the largest number of people.
The German Masters main event will take place in Berlin, Germany, from 1-5 February 2023, with the first qualifying round this week, with all players testing to qualify for the round of 32. World No. 1 O'Sullivan withdrew from the qualifying round, and the remaining 15 top 16 seeds in the world played but suffered a massive rout, with only six players winning two games in a row, and everyone else suffering defeats and missing the main draw.
Among them, five people were out in the first round of qualifying, including 16th seed Ryan Day, who lost 3-5 to fellow Welsh Michael White in the first game; Selby, the No. 5 seed in the tournament, was upset by Chinese rising star Peng Yisong 4-5 in the first match; 14th seed Bingham, lost 5-2 to Wollaston in the first game; No. 7 seed Williams lost 4-5 to Belgian newcomer Leclerc in their first game; No. 4 seed Trump lost 5-4 to veteran Mark Davis in his first game.
Four players were out of the tiebreaker, including Mark Allen, the No. 9 seed in the New Tech British Championship Championship, who kept a clean sheet against China's Zhao Jianbo 0-5 in the first game; No. 13 seed Murphy, lost 2-5 to China's Fan Zhengyi; No. 6 seed Higgins lost 3-5 to amateur Wells, and No. 10 seed Hawkins lost 2-5 to China's Li Xing.
Only five seeded players advanced, including defending champions and top seed China's Zhao Xintong, 8th seed Kyren Wilson, 12th seed Lisovski, 3rd seed Robertson, 11th seed Brecel and 15th seed China's Yan Bingtao.
With seeded players out of the tournament, the Chinese Legion continued to play the tournament, with a total of 27 players playing in the qualifying round, but 12 people finally got the chance to advance to the main event, making history. Including Zhao Xintong, Tian Pengfei, Zhao Jianbo, Peng Yisong, Zhang Anda, Xiao Guodong, Fan Zhengyi, Si Jiahui, Cao Yupeng, Li Xing, Yan Bingtao, Pang Junxu, set a new record for the number of Chinese legions in the top 32 of the ranking tournament. On the last matchday of the qualifying round, only Ding Junhui was out, and he chased down to a 4-4 draw after falling behind 4-1, and the tiebreaker was lost.