RUSSIAN ROULETTE SEES REF LUISE PUT ON MASTERCLASS

There was a cuesports first for Inside Snooker in Berlin, where the chance arose to have a go at Russian Pyramid (also known as Russian billiards or Russian pool), a game still found in the city owing to the historical links with the former Soviet Union.

Featuring 15 numbered white balls and a ‘cue’ ball, and played on varying table sizes (this one was the full 12ft by 6ft) the notable features compared to snooker on the same size surface area are the larger balls and much tighter pockets, with literally a couple of millimetres to spare for the ball to go in. The jaws of the centre pockets also make it very challenging to get anything down from much of an angle.

There were probably weren’t any better informed people to be playing with than official table fitter Pete Godwin, who may not have potted too many but was able to quote off the top of his head the size of the larger, heavier balls at 2 and 11/16 inches.

But the undoubted star of the show was snooker referee Luise Kraatz. The Nuremberg official put on a masterclass and while everyone else was struggling to have any success even from a couple of inches waltzed round the table potting them off the lampshades.

FROM LOCAL HERO TO AUDIENCE ZERO

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.

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.

A HORROR SHOW...BUT NOT AS WE KNOW IT

In what may have to be the last Film Festival-related item, enjoying a drink after play on Thursday a number of those working at the German Masters got chatting to some Northern Irish screenwriters and producers, in Berlin to try and raise investment for various movies they were hoping to make.

In what proved a fascinating insight into what can only be described as a niche area (Irish Gothic horror, apparently with occasional use of possessed leprechauns – maybe not doing everything possible to dispel some national stereotypes) writer Spence Wright and his colleagues (well, apart from the one who was asleep in the corner for the whole two hours) broke off from their pool game and offered up a spirited rendition of ‘Snooker Loopy’ in honour of the chance meeting to the general bewilderment of the bar staff.

Wright describes himself on Linked In as “a horror fan since I was knee high to a Chucky Doll, a child of the vhs video feeding frenzy - now a horror hound writing the scripts and living the nightmare”, and his credits include Red Mist (2008), Unsound (2011), the unforgettable Vampires v Leprechauns (2013) and Deadlocked (2013).

Some fairly obvious gags about snooker and horror, notably those involving slow play and early morning finishes, were all duly cracked.

Tournament director Mike Ganley appeared to know quite a bit about the genre – arguably a little too much – while the festival-goers regretted being tied up in meetings on Friday afternoon and unable to come along and cheer on compatriot Mark Allen against Shaun Murphy.

O'SULLIVAN MAKES IT INTO GERMAN 'DAILY MIRROR'

Always keen to maintain international media relations, Inside Snooker took advantage of an offer from a Berlin colleague to visit the nearby offices of Der Tagesspiegel (or ‘Daily Mirror’, if you like) and get a spot of lunch in the canteen. DT is one of the three big newspapers specifically published for the capital as opposed to some of the national titles.

On a day when a full page of the broadsheet in the news section was devoted to the crisis enveloping Bundesliga stragglers Hertha Berlin, who this week sacked their manager with the team plummeting towards the foot of the table, there was still room in the sports section for an excellent page-lead piece on Ronnie O’Sullivan from journalist Joerg Leopold headlined ‘The quest for perfection’.

http://www.tagesspiegel.de/sport/snooker-german-masters-in-berlin-ronnie-osullivan-und-die-suche-nach-perfektion/11335270.html

With the Film Festival in full swing the Rocket, in action against Joe Perry in their last-16 clash, had to share space in Friday’s paper with French actress Audrey Tautou, a member of the jury deciding the festival’s best film and pictured out and about on gala opening night.

BURDEN'S SPLENDID ISOLATION

Alfie Burden was fired up for his first visit to the latter stages of the German Masters, having always previously fallen in the qualifiers and never made it to the Tempodrom in Berlin.

Affordable hotel rooms were very scarce in Berlin the week of the tournament, with the International Film Festival and several major trade fairs also taking place in the city.

But world No38 Burden was delighted to have finally secured one very close to what he thought was the venue. Having arrived and checked in he ventured to the Velodrom with his cue for a practice only for the first suspicions to dawn that something was amiss.

Bemused staff at the cycling venue were unable to help and after a couple of phone calls Burden realised that he was in fact out in the eastern suburbs and a good 45-minute taxi ride from the Tempodrom just south of the centre of Berlin.

A couple of very costly taxi fares drove Burden to check out the far more reasonable rates available on the public transport system and the U-Bahn. And though a first-round win over Michael Georgiou made him consider relocating, he stayed put ahead of a stint on the Eurosport studio panel during the Neil Robertson v Xiao Guodong last-16 match.