Masters Is Marvellous For Marcel

Marcel Eckardt is refereeing at the Dafabet Masters for the first time this week, another milestone in the 28-year-old’s career on the World Snooker Tour.

By Sam Cross

He has worked alongside Jan Verhaas and Olivier Marteel as the trio of officials at snooker’s biggest invitation event. Marcel has refereed three matches already this week: Mark Allen against Luca Brecel, Ding Junhui versus Ryan Day and last night’s tartan tussle between John Higgins and Anthony McGill.

It’s the first time Germany’s Marcel has experienced the Alexandra Palace crowd. “The atmosphere is fantastic,” he said. “It’s the most prestigious event next to the World Championship that I’ve worked at. Every match is special because of the one table set-up, it’s like refereeing a final.”

Marcel is looking forward to Saturday when he will take charge of one of the semi-finals.

He believes he has made a great improvement in his skills as a referee since his first event at the 2010 PTC in Bruges. “I’ve definitely progressed,” he said. “The tour is more professional and there a lot more tournaments to referee compared to then.”

He will next be on the World Snooker stage in two weeks at the German Masters. “I’m looking forward to my home town event in Berlin,” added Marcel who took charge of the final in the German capital in 2015 when Mark Selby beat Shaun Murphy. “It’s so special, with a lot of great memories. The final three years ago is my proudest achievement.”