Irish Masters

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Not to be confused with Irish Open (snooker) or Irish Professional Championship.

Irish Masters
Tournament information
VenueOrmonde Hotel
LocationKilkenny
CountryRepublic of Ireland
Established1975
Organisation(s)World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
FormatNon-ranking event
Final year2007
Final championEngland Ronnie O'Sullivan

The Irish Masters was a professional snooker tournament. It was founded in 1978, following on from the successful Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament (alternatively known as the Benson & Hedges Ireland Championship). The final champion of the tournament was Ronnie O'Sullivan.

History[]

Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament[]

The Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament started out as a challenge match in 1975 between Alex Higgins and John Spencer. The match initially carried a £250 prize for the winner and £150 for the runner-up, but both players agreed to a "winner takes all" format. Spencer scored two centuries (a 121 and a 109) and despite Higgins leading 7–5, Spencer won four frames in a row to win.[1] In 1976 and 1977 the event was staged as a four-man invitational.

Irish Masters[]

In 1978 the tournament was renamed the Irish Masters and continued as an ever-present fixture on the snooker calendar until 2005. Benson & Hedges continued their sponsorship with the tournament being played at Goffs, Co. Kildare. After tobacco sponsorship was outlawed in the Republic of Ireland in 2000, the Irish government funded the event from 2001 and it was subsequently relocated to the , Saggart, Co. Dublin. The tournament was staged on an invitational basis for most of its existence but became a ranking tournament from the 2002/03 season. The event was dropped from the calendar in the 2005/2006 season.[2] In 2007, a three-day invitational event known as the Kilkenny Irish Masters was staged with 16 players. It attracted a strong field with 9 of the world's top 16 players taking part, with Ronnie O'Sullivan winning the title.[3][4]

The tournament was dominated most of all by Steve Davis, who won it eight times. It was won by Irish players on two occasions, Alex Higgins in 1989 and Ken Doherty in 1998. Doherty claimed the title despite losing in the final 3–9 against Ronnie O'Sullivan, as O'Sullivan subsequently failed a drugs test after testing positive for cannabis.[5] There was only one official maximum break in the history of the tournament. John Higgins made it in the quarter-finals of the 2000 event against Jimmy White.[2] There has been one further maximum break in 2007 by O'Sullivan,[6] but it is not included in the list of official maximum breaks, as the table was not to the requied standards used on the professional circuit.[7]

Winners[]

Year Winner Runner-up Final score Venue Season
Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament (non-ranking)[2]
1975 England John Spencer Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 9–7 Republic of Ireland Dublin 1974/75
1976 England John Spencer Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 5–0 Republic of Ireland Dublin 1975/76
1977 Northern Ireland Alex Higgins Wales Ray Reardon 5–3 Republic of Ireland Leopardstown 1976/77
Irish Masters (non-ranking)[2][8]
1978 England John Spencer Wales Doug Mountjoy 5–3 Republic of Ireland Kill 1977/78
1979 Wales Doug Mountjoy Wales Ray Reardon 6–5 Republic of Ireland Kill 1978/79
1980 Wales Terry Griffiths Wales Doug Mountjoy 9–8 Republic of Ireland Kill 1979/80
1981 Wales Terry Griffiths Wales Ray Reardon 9–7 Republic of Ireland Kill 1980/81
1982 Wales Terry Griffiths England Steve Davis 9–5 Republic of Ireland Kill 1981/82
1983 England Steve Davis Wales Ray Reardon 9–2 Republic of Ireland Kill 1982/83
1984 England Steve Davis Wales Terry Griffiths 9–1 Republic of Ireland Kill 1983/84
1985 England Jimmy White Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 9–5 Republic of Ireland Kill 1984/85
1986 England Jimmy White England Willie Thorne 9–5 Republic of Ireland Kill 1985/86
1987 England Steve Davis England Willie Thorne 9–1 Republic of Ireland Kill 1986/87
1988 England Steve Davis England Neal Foulds 9–4 Republic of Ireland Kill 1987/88
1989 Northern Ireland Alex Higgins Scotland Stephen Hendry 9–8 Republic of Ireland Kill 1988/89
1990 England Steve Davis Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor 9–4 Republic of Ireland Kill 1989/90
1991 England Steve Davis England John Parrott 9–5 Republic of Ireland Kill 1990/91
1992 Scotland Stephen Hendry Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 9–6 Republic of Ireland Kill 1991/92
1993 England Steve Davis Scotland Alan McManus 9–4 Republic of Ireland Kill 1992/93
1994 England Steve Davis Scotland Alan McManus 9–8 Republic of Ireland Kill 1993/94
1995 England Peter Ebdon Scotland Stephen Hendry 9–8 Republic of Ireland Kill 1994/95
1996 Wales Darren Morgan England Steve Davis 9–8 Republic of Ireland Kill 1995/96
1997 Scotland Stephen Hendry Wales Darren Morgan 9–8 Republic of Ireland Kill 1996/97
1998 Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty * England Ronnie O'Sullivan Disqualified Republic of Ireland Kill 1997/98
1999 Scotland Stephen Hendry England Stephen Lee 9–8 Republic of Ireland Kill 1998/99
2000 Scotland John Higgins Scotland Stephen Hendry 9–4 Republic of Ireland Kill 1999/00
2001 England Ronnie O'Sullivan Scotland Stephen Hendry 9–8 Republic of Ireland Saggart 2000/01
2002 Scotland John Higgins England Peter Ebdon 10–3 Republic of Ireland Saggart 2001/02
Irish Masters (ranking)[2][8]
2003 England Ronnie O'Sullivan Scotland John Higgins 10–9 Republic of Ireland Saggart 2002/03
2004 England Peter Ebdon England Mark King 10–7 Republic of Ireland Saggart 2003/04
2005 England Ronnie O'Sullivan Wales Matthew Stevens 10–8 Republic of Ireland Saggart 2004/05
Kilkenny Irish Masters (non-ranking)[3]
2007 England Ronnie O'Sullivan England Barry Hawkins 9–1 Republic of Ireland Kilkenny 2006/07

See also[]

Notes[]

* Ronnie O'Sullivan was disqualified and stripped of the title in 1998 after a 9–3 win over Ken Doherty.
O'Sullivan failed a drugs test after testing positive for cannabis. Doherty was awarded the title.[5]

References[]

  1. ^ "Spencer "breaks" Higgins". Belfast Telegraph. 26 May 1975. p. 17.
  2. ^ a b c d e Turner, Chris. "Irish Masters". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  3. ^ a b Turner, Chris. "Kilkenny Irish Masters". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  4. ^ "O'Sullivan drives Hawkins to drink". RTÉ Sport. Archived from the original on 28 March 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2010.
  5. ^ a b Ian O'Riordan (7 July 1998). "O'Sullivan stripped of Irish title". The Irish Times. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  6. ^ "O'Sullivan notches 147 in Ireland". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 December 2012.
  7. ^ Turner, Chris. "Maximum Breaks". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  8. ^ a b "Hall of Fame". Snooker.org. Retrieved 22 June 2013.
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