Irish Masters

Template:Infobox snooker tournament 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

Early events

The event started out in 1975 as the Benson & Hedges Challenge Match 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1976 and 1977 it was expanded to a four-man invitational event, called the Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament.

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, County Kildare. After tobacco sponsorship was outlawed in the Ireland in 2000, the Irish government funded the event from 2001 and it was subsequently relocated to the Citywest Hotel, Saggart, County 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.<ref name="Irish Masters">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Kilkenny Irish Masters">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

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.<ref name=IT1998-07-07a>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Irish Masters"/> There has been one further maximum break in 2007 by O'Sullivan,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> but it is not included in the list of official maximum breaks, as the table was not to the required standards used on the professional circuit.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Winners

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Final score	Venue	Season
Benson & Hedges Challenge Match (non-ranking)<ref name="Irish Masters"/>
1975	Template:Flagicon John Spencer	Template:Flagicon Alex Higgins	9–7	Template:Flagicon Dublin	1974/75
Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament (non-ranking)<ref name="Irish Masters"/>
1976	Template:Flagicon John Spencer	Template:Flagicon Alex Higgins	5–0	Template:Flagicon Dublin	1975/76
1977	Template:Flagicon Alex Higgins	Template:Flagicon Ray Reardon	5–3	Template:Flagicon Leopardstown	1976/77
Irish Masters (non-ranking)<ref name="Irish Masters"/><ref name="Snooker.org HOF">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation						CitationClass=web }}</ref>
1978	Template:Flagicon John Spencer	Template:Flagicon Doug Mountjoy	5–3	Template:Flagicon Kill	1977/78
1979	Template:Flagicon Doug Mountjoy	Template:Flagicon Ray Reardon	6–5	Template:Flagicon Kill	1978/79
1980	Template:Flagicon Terry Griffiths	Template:Flagicon Doug Mountjoy	9–8	Template:Flagicon Kill	1979/80
1981	Template:Flagicon Terry Griffiths	Template:Flagicon Ray Reardon	9–7	Template:Flagicon Kill	1980/81
1982	Template:Flagicon Terry Griffiths	Template:Flagicon Steve Davis	9–5	Template:Flagicon Kill	1981/82
1983	Template:Flagicon Steve Davis	Template:Flagicon Ray Reardon	9–2	Template:Flagicon Kill	1982/83
1984	Template:Flagicon Steve Davis	Template:Flagicon Terry Griffiths	9–1	Template:Flagicon Kill	1983/84
1985	Template:Flagicon Jimmy White	Template:Flagicon Alex Higgins	9–5	Template:Flagicon Kill	1984/85
1986	Template:Flagicon Jimmy White	Template:Flagicon Willie Thorne	9–5	Template:Flagicon Kill	1985/86
1987	Template:Flagicon Steve Davis	Template:Flagicon Willie Thorne	9–1	Template:Flagicon Kill	1986/87
1988	Template:Flagicon Steve Davis	Template:Flagicon Neal Foulds	9–4	Template:Flagicon Kill	1987/88
1989	Template:Flagicon Alex Higgins	Template:Flagicon Stephen Hendry	9–8	Template:Flagicon Kill	1988/89
1990	Template:Flagicon Steve Davis	Template:Flagicon Dennis Taylor	9–4	Template:Flagicon Kill	1989/90
1991	Template:Flagicon Steve Davis	Template:Flagicon John Parrott	9–5	Template:Flagicon Kill	1990/91
1992	Template:Flagicon Stephen Hendry	Template:Flagicon Ken Doherty	9–6	Template:Flagicon Kill	1991/92
1993	Template:Flagicon Steve Davis	Template:Flagicon Alan McManus	9–4	Template:Flagicon Kill	1992/93
1994	Template:Flagicon Steve Davis	Template:Flagicon Alan McManus	9–8	Template:Flagicon Kill	1993/94
1995	Template:Flagicon Peter Ebdon	Template:Flagicon Stephen Hendry	9–8	Template:Flagicon Kill	1994/95
1996	Template:Flagicon Darren Morgan	Template:Flagicon Steve Davis	9–8	Template:Flagicon Kill	1995/96
1997	Template:Flagicon Stephen Hendry	Template:Flagicon Darren Morgan	9–8	Template:Flagicon Kill	1996/97
1998	Template:Flagicon Ken Doherty *	Template:Flagicon Ronnie O'Sullivan	Disqualified	Template:Flagicon Kill	1997/98
1999	Template:Flagicon Stephen Hendry	Template:Flagicon Stephen Lee	9–8	Template:Flagicon Kill	1998/99
2000	Template:Flagicon John Higgins	Template:Flagicon Stephen Hendry	9–4	Template:Flagicon Kill	1999/00
2001	Template:Flagicon Ronnie O'Sullivan	Template:Flagicon Stephen Hendry	9–8	Template:Flagicon Saggart	2000/01
2002	Template:Flagicon John Higgins	Template:Flagicon Peter Ebdon	10–3	Template:Flagicon Saggart	2001/02
Irish Masters (ranking)<ref name="Irish Masters"/><ref name="Snooker.org HOF"/>
2003	Template:Flagicon Ronnie O'Sullivan	Template:Flagicon John Higgins	10–9	Template:Flagicon Saggart	2002/03
2004	Template:Flagicon Peter Ebdon	Template:Flagicon Mark King	10–7	Template:Flagicon Saggart	2003/04
2005	Template:Flagicon Ronnie O'Sullivan	Template:Flagicon Matthew Stevens	10–8	Template:Flagicon Saggart	2004/05
Kilkenny Irish Masters (non-ranking)<ref name="Kilkenny Irish Masters"/>
2007	Template:Flagicon Ronnie O'Sullivan	Template:Flagicon Barry Hawkins	9–1	Template:Flagicon Kilkenny	2006/07

See also

• Irish Open
• Irish Professional Championship
• 2011 Alex Higgins International Trophy

Notes

Template:Refbegin Template:Nowrap.
O'Sullivan failed a drugs test after testing positive for cannabis. Doherty was awarded the title.<ref name=IT1998-07-07a/> Template:Refend