It’s a big day at the Tempodrom in Berlin for Marcel Eckardt, a German referee taking charge of the German Masters final between Mark Selby and Shaun Murphy.
At 25, Marcel is the youngest person to referee a ranking tournament final. He now lives and works in Berlin after taking a six month break from snooker to concentrate on work, part of which involved a period of studying.
As expected, he got a rapturous reception from the 2,500 strong Tempodrom crowd but his next refereeing engagement will be a quieter affair. Early on Monday morning he flies to the UK to take charge at the Championship League, where there is no audience.
This is about as drastic a change in atmosphere as you can get but confirms Marcel as a dedicated official keen to gain as much experience as possible.
It seems likely he will be donning the white gloves at the Crucible if not this season then in the near future.