The recently created European Series introduces a new ranking event hosted in Dornbirn, Austria. The German Masters, Shootout and Gibraltar Open welcome the European Masters into its circle of events and similarly to the Coral Cup series, a £150,000 bonus is available to the player that performs best throughout these tournaments. Let’s observe how the first European Masters final played out.

Breakdown

This should be easy, yet it’s a surprisingly difficult match to break down because of how one-sided it turned out. Neil Robertson was always going to be the favourite in this contest against 22 y/o, first time finalist, Zhou Yuelong but it’s safe to say most did not expect this sort of result.

Yuelong had his chances; particularly in the first couple of frames since this was before Robertson started scoring. It was quite a cagey start in which Yuelong almost capitalised and stole Frame 1 but the blue being on the left cushion turned out to be his downfall as he couldn’t play safe enough. Robertson then contributed 57 to Frame 2 (after Yuelong faltered at 44) to extend his lead.

This is when Robertson started to fire on all cylinders as he made breaks of 99, 128, 82 and 109. The frames where he was not scoring as high, he was still playing top level safety, which Yuelong just couldn’t compete with. The difference between the two players on Sunday were night and day.

Robertson gifted Yuelong multiple chances in the final frame to get himself into the match unfortunately, nothing was happening for the young prodigy. Robertson’s terrific long potting and stellar safety saw him through the rest of the match as he closed out only the second whitewash victory in a ranking event since 1989.

Afterthoughts

It’s a shame that Yuelong wasn’t able to turn up in his first ranking final but I don’t think it will affect him as much as most will expect. He will likely have a long-term picture in mind and consider this the first final of many. He will now know the calibre of opposition to expect going into future finals as his opponent was performing in all areas on the day. A significant amount of Yuelong’s lost frames came from poor safeties which Robertson cleared from; showing the importance of tight safety play and ensuring you’re not knocking a red loose when playing a return-to-baulk shot.

Yuelong beat the likes of Williams, Hawkins and Wilson in order to make this final; including a late decider against Wilson the night before the final. Lack of recovery time may have contributed to his performance on Sunday as Yuelong seemed quite resigned after Frame 5. He wasn’t getting any run-of-the-ball, had a few unfortunate in-offs and no rhythm whatsoever. And it certainly didn’t help how well Robertson was playing. He had some crowd support as they tried to urge him back into the match, particularly in the last frame as Yuelong made an impressive black using the extended spider, but at that point it seemed only a matter of time.

On the other hand, Robertson will be relieved to have his first ranking title of the season. This is his second tournament win on top of the Champion of Champions which takes him to a total 17 career ranking titles. Robertson takes home £80,000 for his performance and places him in a comfortable position to win the bonus up for grabs in the European Series.

I think more than the win, Robertson will be pleased with how he performed in the final. Despite his opponent not having a particularly good day at the office, Robertson still played as if he were against a Top 8 player. His long potting was on point and his safety was just as terrific. It’s the kind of form one wishes they could bring out all the time as Robertson starts his 2020 with flying colours.

What did you think of the first European Masters? Are we now moving into an era of snooker where all ranking events will be grouped as part of a ‘series’ to increase its marketability?