By Elliott West
Introduction
The 1996 Irish Masters was the twenty-second edition of this professional invitational snooker tournament and took place at Goffs, Kill in the Republic of Ireland. Held between 26th-31st March, 1996, this was a non-ranking event and featured twelve professional players.
Steeped in history, this particular year ended with a final between Steve Davis and Darren Morgan. In a close match, Morgan emerged the victor, defeating Davis 9-8. This was a sensational victory for the Welshman as Steve was a previous eight times Irish Masters champion and the fact that Davis had led the match with Morgan only leading at the end of the fifteenth frame. A final that lasted an arduous seven hours and only produced a winner at 15 minutes after midnight.
The Tournament
Darren Morgan’s path to victory in this tournament to the final, could be described as being on a knife edge. All his matches were close with a 6-4 win over Alan McManus, a 6-5 defeat of Peter Ebdon and Joe Swail by the same score line. His semi/final clash against Joe Swail was probably the most tense with both players fighting to get over the line. In the decider, it was impossible to pick a winner but Morgan seized his chance, notching up a 63 break to win frame and match. Darren later reflected on the clash, saying :
“I twitched on the first red …how I managed it, I don’t know, particularly after losing the previous frame on the black. I thought I had potted it to win the match but somehow it hung over a pocket”.
“Even at 5-5, I thought Joe was going to do to me what he did to Ronnie O’Sullivan in the previous round and win the last three frames”.
Morgan, the runner-up in the Regal Welsh in 1992 and the Asian Open in 1993, also recorded breaks of 72, 69, 67, 45 and 44 against Swail. Joe, who had a break of 83 in frame seven, said :
“I had my chances but I found it hard to get going. That may have been a reaction to my two previous matches which I also won 6-5. I feel sorry for the crowd. They were all behind me and I let them down”.
Joe Swail
Steve Davis’s run to the final was far from smooth, marred by a gruelling encounter with Ken Doherty in the semi-final. After trailing 2-0, Steve went on to win the third frame. This frame was the pivotal turning point in the match with Davis changing his mindset to one of a positive nature. Despite an onslaught of high breaks from Ken, 68, 58 and 54 and Doherty potting the necessary blue in frame four after Steve had got four of the five snooker required to win on the colours, Davis achieved his goal of setting out his stall in the match.
The match had now swayed in Steve’s favour with the next four frames lasting 54 minutes, being tough and uncompromising. The result being that David took a 5-4 lead. The result seemed inevitable despite Ken winning the ninth frame on the pink, a frame that last 46 minutes. Davis’s 6-4 victory was well earned and especially as Doherty had previously defeated Stephen Hendry 6-5. to rapturous applause from the Irish audience with high breaks of 124, 65 and 64. This win for Davis snubbed out the chances of there being a home-grown winner.
In the quarter final, Davis had drawn James Wattana. In a 6-3 victory for the Nugget, Steve knocked in high breaks of 105, 82 and 60, Wattana led the match 1-0 and 2-1 but couldn’t hold back the lad from Romford, losing both the fourth and ninth frames on the black. These errors allowed Davis to sail through to his 12th semi-final.
Early on, John Higgins, Alan McManus, John Parrot, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Jimmy White were all casualties in this tournament. However Peter Ebdon broke through the field of players and made it to the quarterfinals. In a tough draw against Darren Morgan, Peter compiled a 138 break and led 2-1 and then 4-2. However in the end, the match went to a decider with Morgan making four half centuries on the way. A frame that ended in Darren’s favour.
Results
Round 1 (Best of 11 frames)
Darren Morgan v Alan McManus 6-4
Joe Swail v John Parrott 6-4
James Wattana v John Higgins 6-4
Ken Doherty v Jimmy White 6-3
Quarter-Finals (Best of 11 frames)
Darren Morgan v Peter Ebdon 6-5
Joe Swail v Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-5
Steve Davis v James Wattana 6-3
Ken Doherty v Stephen Hendry 6-5
Semi-Finals (Best of 11 frames)
Darren Morgan v Joe Swail 6-5
Steve Davis v Ken Doherty 6-4
Final (Best of 17 frames)
Darren Morgan v Steve Davis 9-8
Summary
Goffs always produces great tournaments and the Irish Masters really showcased the sport and the excellence of the arena. Darren Morgan’s victory throughout the tournament was hard fought and like a boxer, he often used his game to make his opponent retreat into submission. A worthy winner of this respected trophy and a cheque to go with it for IR£70,000. A victory that took Morgan’s season earnings deep into six figures for the second time.
