Masters (snooker)

Masters

Tournament information
Venue	Alexandra Palace
Location	London
Country	England
Established	1975
Organisation(s)	World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
Format	Non-ranking event
Total prize fund	£500,000
Current champion(s)	Neil Robertson

The Masters is a professional snooker tournament and the second longest running tournament outside the World Championship and is one of the Triple Crown events. Although not a ranking event, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious tournaments on the circuit. The defending champion is Neil Robertson.

History

1975–1996

The tournament was held for the first time in 1975 in the West Center Hotel, London, when the top ten players were invited. The event was sponsored by the cigarette company, Benson & Hedges. The final was won by John Spencer, who beat Ray Reardon 9–8 to win £2,000. The following year the event moved to the New London Theatre and in 1979 to the Wembley Conference Centre.

In 1981 the number of players invited to compete was increased to 12, and then increased again to 16 in 1983. From 1984 onwards the top 16 players in the world rankings were automatically invited to the tournament. In 1984 Kirk Stevens became the first player to make a maximum break at the event against Jimmy White in the semi-final. In 1988 Mike Hallett became the first and to date only player to be whitewashed in a Masters final, having lost 0-9 to Steve Davis. Stephen Hendry maintained an unbeaten record in the event, a run which included five successive championship victories, from his first appearance in 1989 until his defeat by Alan McManus in a final-frame decider in the 1994 final. Hallett reached his second final in four years in 1991, but lost 8–9 against Hendry, despite leading 7–0 and 8–2. This defeat effectively ended Hallett's days as a major force in the game.

In 1990 Masters the sponsors introduced two wild-cards, granted by the game's governing body at their discretion, who would play wild-card matches against the players seeded 15th and 16th for a place in the first round of the tournament. For the 1991 Masters, the Benson & Hedges Championship was introduced, which granted the winner one of the two wildcard places. The other continued to be granted by the governing body. From 1996 the final was changed from a best of 17 to a best of 19 frames match.

1997–2004

In the 1997 final, Steve Davis defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan in a match disrupted by a streaker. Davis came back from 4–8 down to win the remaining six frames in a row, clinching the final at 10–8. The 1998 final went down to a re-spotted black in the deciding frame; Mark Williams defeated Stephen Hendry 10–9 after having trailed 6–9. In the 2000 final Ken Doherty missed the final black in a 147 attempt, and eventually lost to Matthew Stevens.

In 2003 Benson & Hedges had to end the sponsorhip of the event due to UK restrictions on tobacco advertising, and was unsponsored the following year. In 2005, Rileys Club became sponsors of the event. There was also no qualifying competition, and both wildcard places were awarded by the governing body, but the competition returned the following season. In 2006, Saga Insurance took over sponsorship of the tournament and later the same year agreed to a deal to sponsor the event until 2009. Following the death of Paul Hunter in October 2006, Jimmy White led calls for the Masters trophy or tournament to be renamed in honour of Hunter, who had won the title three times in four years between 2001 and 2004. Lindsey Hunter, widow of Paul Hunter, later expressed her wishes for the trophy to be renamed, claiming that "...everybody expected it. Every player I've spoken to, every fan, thought it would be a definite". World Snooker, the sport's governing body, decided against renaming the trophy, stating "Our board unanimously agreed that the Paul Hunter Scholarship was the most fitting tribute. Just as Hunter himself rose swiftly through the amateur ranks, the scholarship will give a gifted young player the chance to fulfil his talent through elite training."

2006–present

2006 was the last year the tournament was held at the Wembley Conference Centre, before it was demolished in the same summer to make place for redevelopment. In a slight change for 2007, one extra discretionary wildcard place was awarded, bringing the total number of players up to 19. The event was held at the Wembley Arena. For 2008 the tournament reverted to having only two wild-card players.

Ronnie O'Sullivan has appeared in four successive finals from 2004 to 2007, winning in 2005 and 2007. Paul Hunter won the first of these, recovering from 2–7 down to win 10–9 against Ronnie, making five century breaks along the way. This was Hunter's third Masters win in four years. O'Sullivan put on a great display to defeat John Higgins in the 2005 final, 10–3. The next year, they met once again in the final, which saw a very high standard of play throughout the match, including back-to-back total clearances of 138 and 139 for O'Sullivan to win frames 2 and 3, before losing the next five frames in a row. In the deciding frame, O'Sullivan made a break of 60, before let Higgins back in the frame. Higgins made a clearance of 64 to win the title on the black. However, O'Sullivan redeemed himself the in 2007 by dominating Ding Junhui, winning 10–3 and then comforting the clearly upset youngster afterwards. In the same year Ding Junhui became the second person to compile a maximum break at the event against Anthony Hamilton in the wild-card round.

In the summer of 2008 SAGA Insurrance pulled out of the sponsorship of the event, and the event was unsponsored in 2009. The event was sponsored by PokerStars.com in 2010. The qualifying competition was removed again for the 2011 Masters, no wildcard places were given, and was sponsored by Ladbrokes Mobile. The final of the event made history, as it was the first to feature two Asian players in the final. In 2012 the event was moved to the Alexandra Palace in London, and is currently sponsored by BGC Partners.

Winners

Year	Winner	Opponent	Final score	Season
1975	John Spencer	Ray Reardon	9–8	1974/75
1976	Ray Reardon	Graham Miles	7–3	1975/76
1977	Doug Mountjoy	Ray Reardon	7–6	1976/77
1978	Alex Higgins	Cliff Thorburn	7–5	1977/78
1979	Perrie Mans	Alex Higgins	8–4	1978/79
1980	Terry Griffiths	Alex Higgins	9–5	1979/80
1981	Alex Higgins	Terry Griffiths	9–6	1980/81
1982	Steve Davis	Terry Griffiths	9–5	1981/82
1983	Cliff Thorburn	Ray Reardon	9–7	1982/83
1984	Jimmy White	Terry Griffiths	9–5	1983/84
1985	Cliff Thorburn	Doug Mountjoy	9–6	1984/85
1986	Cliff Thorburn	Jimmy White	9–5	1985/86
1987	Dennis Taylor	Alex Higgins	9–8	1986/87
1988	Steve Davis	Mike Hallett	9–0	1987/88
1989	Stephen Hendry	John Parrott	9–6	1988/89
1990	Stephen Hendry	John Parrott	9–4	1989/90
1991	Stephen Hendry	Mike Hallett	9–8	1990/91
1992	Stephen Hendry	John Parrott	9–4	1991/92
1993	Stephen Hendry	James Wattana	9–5	1992/93
1994	Alan McManus	Stephen Hendry	9–8	1993/94
1995	Ronnie O'Sullivan	John Higgins	9–3	1994/95
1996	Stephen Hendry	Ronnie O'Sullivan	10–5	1995/96
1997	Steve Davis	Ronnie O'Sullivan	10–8	1996/97
1998	Mark Williams	Stephen Hendry	10–9	1997/98
1999	John Higgins	Ken Doherty	10–8	1998/99
2000	Matthew Stevens	Ken Doherty	10–8	1999/00
2001	Paul Hunter	Fergal O'Brien	10–9	2000/01
2002	Paul Hunter	Mark Williams	10–9	2001/02
2003	Mark Williams	Stephen Hendry	10–4	2002/03
2004	Paul Hunter	Ronnie O'Sullivan	10–9	2003/04
2005	Ronnie O'Sullivan	John Higgins	10–3	2004/05
2006	John Higgins	Ronnie O'Sullivan	10–9	2005/06
2007	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Ding Junhui	10–3	2006/07
2008	Mark Selby	Stephen Lee	10–3	2007/08
2009	Ronnie O'Sullivan	Mark Selby	10–8	2008/09
2010	Mark Selby	Ronnie O'Sullivan	10–9	2009/10
2011	Ding Junhui	Marco Fu	10–4	2010/11
2012	Neil Robertson	Shaun Murphy	10–6	2011/12