EUROSPORT PICK RIGHT DAY TO SELL SNOOKER

After deciding to make a big statement of intent at the German Masters by having a studio presence for the first time at the snooker, broadcasters Eurosport followed that up with more efforts to spread the word once safely installed at the Tempodrom.

A pan-European media day on Friday afternoon saw journalists from Germany, Italy, Hungary, Poland, Spain, Romania, the Czech Republic and Portugal invited and given the VIP treatment including tours of the venue, a masterclass on the practice tables with young German prospect Lukas Kleckers, and some wining and dining.

The practice session did raise an eyebrow from Mark Selby, working on his game on the adjacent table ahead of his evening quarter-final showdown with Judd Trump but it takes more than excited gaggle of hacks and presenters to ruffle the world champion these days.

And the invited party could not really have picked a better day to be in the Tempodrom, arguably one of the finest in recent snooker history taking all factors into consideration. There was a 147 from Trump who went on to lose, four quarter-finals going to a deciding frame, a first ranking success for Shaun Murphy over Ronnie O’Sullivan and that was just the evening.

Earlier, of course, Murphy had obtained a snooker to stay in the tournament when 4-3 down to Mark Allen in another classic last-16 encounter.