irishmast

Irish Masters

World Ranking Event since 1984

Brief History of the Irish Masters

The Irish Masters traces its origins to a snooker challenge match, promoted by Benson & Hedges in 1975 at the National Boxing Arena in Dublin between John Spencer and Alex Higgins. The following year they repeated the event this time with four players in a straight knockout and in 1977, at Leopardstown Racecourse, it was staged again with four players in a round robin with the top two contesting the final. This event was variously known as the Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament or sometimes as the Benson & Hedges Irish Championship.

Following on from this event and their success with the Masters in London, Benson & Hedges introduced the Irish Masters in 1978 and it remains the only major event to be held successfully in the Republic. For the venue the sponsors chose the 144-seater Goff’s bloodstock sale ring at Kill in County Kildare near Dublin.

Like its English counterpart it was an invitation only event and for the first few years was held on a round-robin basis with, for the first year, six players being divided into two groups with the top two in each playing semi finals. John Spencer, as with the London event, was the first winner, collecting a cheque for just £1000 for his victory over Doug Mountjoy. Mountjoy went one better in 1979 beating Ray Reardon in the final with the prize money doubled. In his third final in a row, Doug lost to Terry Griffiths in 1980.

In 1981 the format was changed to a 12-man knock out with the top four seeds entering at the second round (quarter-final) stage and that remained the format for more than 20 years. Terry Griffiths defended his title that year and went on complete a hat trick of wins in 1982. By 1982 the top prize was up to £6,400 and the next year it went to five figures when Steve Davis won the first of, what was to be, eight wins in the event. He won again in 1984.

Alex Higgins became the first Irish finalist in 1985 but it was Jimmy White who emerged the winner and he repeated his success in 1986. Davis had back-to-back wins in 1987 and 1988. It was in 1989 however, that Irish eyes were really smiling. Their favourite, Alex Higgins, was, by then, well past his best and was now ranked down at 17. To everyone’s delight he went all the way to the final where Stephen Hendry was waiting for him. When Alex lost the first four frames, things looked bleak and even worse when the Scot was two up with three to play. Alex won those last three frames comfortably to become the first Irish winner.

Steve Davis won four of the next five events but it was however a quarter-final in 1990 which made all the headlines. The match featured Dennis Taylor and Alex Higgins. Just a few days previously, at the World Cup, Alex had threatened to have Taylor ‘shot’. The stage was set for what Steve Davis described as “the grudge match of all time”. Taylor’s family and friends had flown in from all parts and he said he had never experienced an atmosphere like it. Taylor was determined to win and he did. Higgins later apologised.

Welshman, Darren Morgan, achieved the only major victory of his career when he beat Steve Davis in the 1996 final and he almost did it again the next year but Hendry beat him in the final frame. This was the fourth successive year that the final had gone to a decider.

Dublin’s own Ken Doherty reached the final in 1998 and although it was Ronnie O’Sullivan who won the match, his failing of a subsequent drug test meant that he forfeited the title and so Ken became the Republic’s first champion. Stephen Lee looked set for the title in 1999 when he was 8-4 up against Hendry but the Scot won five in a row to win for a third time. Due to a ban on tobacco sponsorship in Ireland, the 2000 event would be the last to carry the Benson & Hedges name. It proved to be memorable as it provided the event with its first maximum break. John Higgins, who had made his first 147 a few weeks earlier in the Nations Cup, achieved the feat in his quarter final against Jimmy White and he went on to win the title with a victory over Stephen Hendry.

Hotel group, Citywest, stepped in to promote the event in 2001 at their hotel at Saggart, just outside Dublin. After yet another final frame decider, the eighth in the history of the event, Ronnie O’Sullivan at last took the title for real with Hendry the runner up for a fourth time. The tournament became a full ranking event in 2003 with the same sponsors. It was dropped from the calendar in 2005/6

Roll Of Honour

Year	Venue	Sponsor	Winner	Runner Up	Score	1st Prize
1978	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	John Spencer	Doug Mountjoy	5-3	£1,000
1979	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Doug Mountjoy	Ray Reardon	6-5	£2,000
1980	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Terry Griffiths	Doug Mountjoy	9-8	£2,500
1981	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Terry Griffiths	Ray Reardon	9-7	£5,000
1982	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Terry Griffiths	Steve Davis	9-5	£6,400
1983	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Steve Davis	Ray Reardon	9-2	£10,680
1984	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Steve Davis	Terry Griffiths	9-1	£12,295
1985	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Jimmy White	Alex Higgins	9-5	£18,000
1986	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Jimmy White	Willie Thorne	9-5	£20,869
1987	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Steve Davis	Willie Thorne	9-1	£22,500
1988	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Steve Davis	Neal Foulds	9-4	£26.080
1989	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Alex Higgins	Stephen Hendry	9-8	£27,242
1990	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Steve Davis	Dennis Taylor	9-4	£37,000
1991	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Steve Davis	John Parrott	9-5	£36,000
1992	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Stephen Hendry	Ken Doherty	9-6	£40,375
1993	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Steve Davis	Alan McManus	9-4	£45,000
1994	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Steve Davis	Alan McManus	9-8	£48,000
1995	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Peter Ebdon	Stephen Hendry	9-8	£70,000
1996	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Darren Morgan	Steve Davis	9-8	£70,000
1997	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Stephen Hendry	Darren Morgan	9-8	£72,000
1998	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Ken Doherty	Ronnie O'Sullivan #	3-9	£61,130
1999	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	Stephen Hendry	Stephen Lee	9-8	£63,226
2000	Goff's, Kill, Co.Kildare	Benson & Hedges	John Higgins	Stephen Hendry	9-4	£54,949
2001	Citywest Hotel, Saggart, Dublin	Citywest Hotel	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Stephen Hendry	9-8	£61,500
2002	Citywest Hotel, Saggart, Dublin	Citywest Hotel	John Higgins	Peter Ebdon	10-3	£65,000
2003	Citywest Hotel, Saggart, Dublin	Citywest Hotel	Ronnie O'Sullivan	John Higgins	10-9	£48,000
2004	Citywest Hotel, Saggart, Dublin	Citywest Hotel	Peter Ebdon	Mark King	10-7	£48,000
2005	Citywest Hotel, Saggart, Dublin	Fáilte Ireland	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Matthew Stevens	10-8	£50,000

#Ronnie O'Sullivan originally won this final but was later disqualified after a drug test and the title awarded to Ken Doherty

Maximum Breaks

Final Stage
John Higgins	2000	Quarter final v. Jimmy White

Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament
(also known as the Benson & Hedges Irish Championship)

Year	Venue	Sponsor	Winner	Runner Up	Score	1st Prize
1975	National Boxing Stadium, Dublin	Benson & Hedges	John Spencer	Alex Higgins	9-7	n/a
1976	National Boxing Stadium, Dublin	Benson & Hedges	John Spencer	Alex Higgins	5-0	£1,300
1977	Leopardstown Racecourse	Benson & Hedges	Alex Higgins	Ray Reardon	5-3	£750