By Elliott West
Introduction
Snooker fans have been twiddling their thumbs for the last few months as the sport took a few months off for the summer. The end of the season is always a time when no amount of cricket or golf, can replace the buzz of a snooker tournament, the joy of engaging in social media chatter and reading the numerous media reports on matches and players. I too took some time out to write about other subject matter and to test my writing skills. That’s not to say, there hasn’t been a small flicker in the snooker during these subdued months, Shaun Murphy was victorious in the low-key Championship League, a tournament that fires the starting pistol for the new snooker season and Judd Trump beat John Higgins 5-1 in the final of an event in Huangguoshu, China.
So it’s a joy to finally get the meat back on the bones with the start of a tournament that has existed in various forms for 34 years and has been held in nine different countries. Held this year in the dying throws of August, the 8th edition of the European Masters will be held in Nuremberg, Germany, a country where fans adore snooker. This event was relaunched in 2016 and last year held at the Stadthalle in Fürth, Germany, was won by Kyen Wilson. Kyren defeated Barry Hawkins 9-3 in the final to claim the title and the £80,000 winner’s prize.
The Survivor
This tournament in its various guises has been won by a whole host of players over the years. Born as the European Open in 1989, John Parrott won it three times, beating Terry Griffiths 9-8 in 1989 and Stephen Hendry 10-6 in 1990 to claim the first two titles in Deauville and Lyon in France. He also won it in 1996, defeating Peter Ebdon 9-7 in Valetta, Malta. Briefly known as the Irish Open in 1998 and the Malta Cup between 2005-2008, there have been 17 winners so far including Ronnie Sullivan, Steve Davis, Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White.
This event has been held in a number of countries over its five decades of existence. Places like England, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Malta, Ireland, Romania, Austria and Germany. Originally the only ranking tournament outside the British Isles, this was a number of players shone, Ken Doherty for example when he won the 2006 Malta Cup after not lifting a ranking title since his 1997 World Championship victory, the sixth title of his career. He would also reach the final in 2008 but lost to Shaun Murphy 9-3, the only time that when it was known as Malta Cup, was non-ranking that year.
It was also a tournament where Stephen Hendry drew his last breath of success, his 36th and final victory in the 2005 Malta Cup where he beat Graeme Dott 9-7 in this rejuvenated event. There have also only been a small crop of players who have attained a 147 break in the various formats. Alain Robidoux (1989), Shaun Murphy (2016), Zhang Anda (2022) and Hossein Vafaei (2022).
My Views
So when the KIA Metropol Arena in Nuremberg opens its door to this cracking tournament and the Eurosport cameras roll between 22-27 August, it will be interesting to see which players shine after their summer break and which still have a rusty cueing arm, only briefly oiled by the recent Championship League, played not only silky smooth match ready tables but the slightly less superior Rasson tables instead. With several Chinese players now banned or temporarily as a result of the recent match-fixing scandal, Shaun Murphy and Judd Trump are the only markers for a crack at the title but a day in snooker is like a year in a high-pressure cooker, so anything is possible. Kyen Wilson will be keen to protect his title but that is a big ask and how will Ronnie O’Sullivan fair this season? Will he play lacklustre in these minor-ranking events, preferring to channel his energy into the big trophies of the season? Time will tell but we won’t have to wait long and it provides a fascinating start to this new snooker season.
