Irish Masters 2001
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Irish Masters 2001 Citywest Irish Masters 2001 
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| Tournament type: | Invitation tournament |
| Attendees: | 12 |
| Venue: | Citywest Hotel, Dublin , Ireland |
| Opening: | March 27, 2001 |
| Endgame: | April 1, 2001
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| Winner: |
 Ronnie O'Sullivan
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| Finalist: |
 Stephen Hendry
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| Highest Break: | 137 ( Ronnie O'Sullivan )
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← 2000
2002 →
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The Citywest Irish Masters 2001 was a snooker tournament as part of the Snooker Main Tour of the 2000/01 season . The invitation tournament was held in Dublin from March 27th to April 1st . After Benson & Hedges left as a sponsor after 23 years, the hotel operator Citywest was won as a sponsor. Therefore, the Kill tournament had moved a few kilometers further to the Citywest Hotel in the Irish capital.
John Higgins could not defend his title, he lost his opening match against Peter Ebdon . The second Scot in the tournament, Stephen Hendry , reached the final, his opponent was Ronnie O'Sullivan . The Englishman won just under 9: 8 and thus secured the title for the first time. In 1998 he had already won a final after being convicted of using cannabis, but the title had been stripped from him. This season it was the fourth tournament victory for O'Sullivan.
Prize money
The prize money increased by around £ 15,000 that year. The prize money increased by £ 6,500, and it was around £ 1,000 for the defeated finalists, but also for the first-round losers.
| placement | Prize money |
|---|---|
| winner | £ 61,500 |
| final | £ 24,600 |
| Semifinals | £ 12,300 |
| Quarter finals | £ 6,560 |
| Round 1 | £ 5,000 |
| Highest Break (Final Round) | £ 3,280 |
| All in all | £ 160,220 |
Final round
The top 8 in the world rankings had come to Dublin, and in addition to the second Irish Fergal O'Brien , Peter Ebdon , Steve Davis and Jimmy White were invited from the top 18. The players from place 5 played against each other in round 1. The top 4 were set for the quarterfinals. As in previous years, the first three rounds were played in Best of 11 mode . The final went over 9 winning frames (Best of 17).
| Round 1 (Best of 11) |
Quarter Finals (Best of 11) |
Semi-finals (Best of 11) |
Final (Best of 17) |
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| 1 | John Higgins
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3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Stephen Lee
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4th | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Peter Ebdon
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6th | ||||||||||||||||
| 10 | Peter Ebdon
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6th | 10 | Peter Ebdon
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3 | |||||||||||||
| 4th | Ronnie O'Sullivan
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6th | ||||||||||||||||
| 4th | Ronnie O'Sullivan
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6th | ||||||||||||||||
| 7th |  Ken Doherty
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4th | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Steve Davis
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3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Steve Davis
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6th | 4th | Ronnie O'Sullivan
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9 | |||||||||||||
| 3 | Stephen Hendry
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8th | ||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Stephen Hendry
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6th | ||||||||||||||||
| 8th | Alan McManus
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6th | ||||||||||||||||
| 8th | Alan McManus
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1 | ||||||||||||||||
| 12 | Jimmy White
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4th | 3 | Stephen Hendry
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6th | |||||||||||||
| 2 |  Mark Williams
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3 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Mark Williams
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6th | ||||||||||||||||
| 6th | Matthew Stevens
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6th | ||||||||||||||||
| 6th | Matthew Stevens
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4th | ||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Fergal O'Brien
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2 | ||||||||||||||||
final
For the third time in a row and for the seventh time in total, Stephen Hendry had reached the final of the Irish Masters. He had already won the tournament three times, but also lost the final three times. Ronnie O'Sullivan , on the other hand, linked his most inglorious hour with the Irish Masters. His only final appearance in 1998 ended with his disqualification for doping. The two met in the final for the eighth time; the Englishman won the last encounter earlier in the season at the Scottish Masters .
The final seemed to want to take a clear course, as O'Sullivan continued to improve after a hard-fought first frame and pulled away to 4-0 until the first break. After the interruption, however, Hendry was able to get his first frame and reduce it to 5: 3 at the end of the session. With that he kept all chances open for the evening. Although the first frame in session 2 went to the Englishman, Hendry was able to equalize 6: 6 with 3 frames won. O'Sullivan's new lead equalized the Scot immediately and with the frame gain to 8: 7 he took the lead for the first time in the match. But with an 80-point break, O'Sullivan equalized again. This was the sixth time in eight years that the decision in the Decider was made in Dublin. It was O'Sullivan who ultimately prevailed and won his 19th professional title with 9: 8.
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Final: Best of 17 Frames Citywest Hotel, Dublin , Ireland , April 1st 2001 |
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Ronnie O'Sullivan
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9 : 8 |
Stephen Hendry
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Afternoon : 69 : 57, 83 : 5, 99 : 28 (60), 76 : 0 (76), 6: 76 (76), 87 : 11 (87), 0: 76 (76), 1: 109 (84 ); Evening : 76 : 31 (76), 0: 86 (82), 25: 99 (95), 26: 83 (53), 112 : 9 (112), 44: 62 , 1: 74 (74), 83 : 0 (80) 71 : 13 |
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| 112 | Highest break | 95 |
| 1 | Century breaks | - |
| 6th | 50+ breaks | 7th |
Century breaks
It was Ronnie O'Sullivan's tournament . Not only did he win the title, he also scored 5 of the 12 century breaks in the tournament. Four other players also scored breaks of 100 or more points. O'Sullivan's 137-point break in the semifinals was the highest break of the tournament and he received an additional £ 3,280 on top of the winning bonus.
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Ronnie O'Sullivan
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137, 136, 134, 130, 112 |
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Peter Ebdon
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124 (2 ×) |
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Matthew Stevens
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120, 105 |
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Stephen Hendry
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113, 100 |
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Alan McManus
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102 |
swell
- ↑ Shane Murray: Snooker: City West confirmed for Irish Masters. Raidió Teilifís Éireann , June 14, 2007, accessed on October 20, 2019 .
- ↑ Irish Masters. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive, archived from the original on February 16, 2012 ; accessed on October 20, 2019 .
- ↑ a b c 2001 Irish Masters - Finishes. CueTracker, accessed October 20, 2019 .
- ↑ 2001 Irish Masters. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed October 20, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Citywest Irish Masters 2001. snooker.org, accessed on October 20, 2019 (English).
- ↑ Rankings - 2000-2001. In: CueTracker Snooker Results & Statistics Database. Ron Florax, accessed October 20, 2019 .
