| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Venue | Wembley Conference Centre 1979–2006 Wembley Arena 2007–2011 Alexandra Palace 2012– |
| 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) | Ding Junhui |
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, earning the second biggest prize money.[1]
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The tournament was held for the first time in 1975 in the West Center Hotel, London, when the top ten players were invited. The final was won by John Spencer, who beat Ray Reardon 9–8 to win £2000. The following year the event moved to the New London Theatre and in 1979 to the Wembley Conference Centre[1]
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.[1]
The 1990 Masters the sponsors introduced two wild-cards,[1] granted by the game's governing body at their discretion, who would play preliminary 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.[1] The other continued to be granted by the governing body. There was no qualifying competition held for the 2005 Masters, and both wildcard places were awarded by the governing body, but the competition returned the following season.[2] In a slight change for the 2007 Masters, one extra discretionary wildcard place was awarded, bringing the total number of players up to 19.[3] For 2008 the tournament reverted to having 18 players.[4] The qualifying competition was removed again for the 2011 Masters and no wildcard places were given, meaning only the top 16 players were invited for the first time since 1989. From 1996 the final became was changed from a best of 17 to a best of 19 frames match.[1]
The tournament has seen many memorable matches, perhaps the most memorable being the 1991 final when Stephen Hendry beat Mike Hallett 9–8 after having trailed 0–7 and 2–8. This defeat effectively ended Hallett's days as a major force in the game. This was Hallett's second final defeat in 4 years, and he also holds the unwanted record of being the only player to have been whitewashed in a Masters final, having lost 0-9 to Steve Davis in 1988.[1] Arguably the next best final was the 1997 final, when Steve Davis, the greatest player of the game until Hendry's dominance in the 1990s, defeated Ronnie O'Sullivan, the great new star of snooker, in a match disrupted by a streaker. Davis came back from 8–4 down to win the remaining six frames in a row, clinching the final at 10–8. Also memorable was the 1998 final, which went down to a re-spotted black in the deciding frame; Mark Williams defeated Stephen Hendry 10–9 after having trailed 6–9. A rather bittersweet memory was that of Ken Doherty's final black miss in a 147 attempt during the 2000 final, which he eventually lost to Matthew Stevens.
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.[1] Ronnie O'Sullivan has appeared in four successive finals from 2004 to 2007, winning in 2005 and 2007. However, it's his losses in the 2004 and 2006 finals which are widely considered to be two of the best matches played at the Masters or any tournament. Paul Hunter won the first of these, recovering from 7–2 down to win 10–9 against Ronnie, making five century breaks along the way. This was Hunter's third Masters win in four years, and sadly was his last tournament victory. 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 running out of position and missing with the rest. Higgins took a pot to the middle which almost stopped short but just rolled in, then also potted a double into the same pocket later in the break. He made a clearance of 64 to win the title on the black ball. However, O'Sullivan redeemed himself the next year by dominating Ding Junhui, winning 10–3 and then comforting the clearly upset youngster afterwards.
The event was sponsored by Benson & Hedges until 2003, but UK restrictions on tobacco advertising meant that it was without a sponsor the following year. In 2005, Rileys Club became sponsors of the event, but in 2006, Saga Insurance took over sponsorship of the tournament and sponsored the tournament until 2008. The event was sponsored by PokerStars.com in 2010, and the current sponsor of the event is Ladbrokes Mobile.[1]
2006 was the last year the tournament was held at the Wembley Conference Centre before it was demolished in Summer 2006. From 2007, the tournament has taken place at Wembley Arena.[1][5] The Masters will move to the Alexandra Palace in 2012.[6]
Only two players have achieved the maximum break in the tournament: Kirk Stevens against Jimmy White in 1984, and Ding Junhui against Anthony Hamilton in 2007.[1][7]
Following the death of Paul Hunter in October 2006,[8] 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.[9] 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".[10] 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."[10]
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