Thailand Masters

This article is about the snooker tournament. For the badminton tournament, see Thailand Masters (badminton).

Thailand Masters

Tournament information
Venue	Grand Hotel
Location	Hua Hin
Country	Thailand
Established	1983/1984
Organisation(s)	World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association
Format	Non-ranking event
Final year	2006
Final champion	Marco Fu

The Thailand Masters was a professional snooker tournament. Previously known as Asian Open and Thailand Open, it was a ranking tournament from 1989/90 to 2001/02. An event called the Thailand Masters also formed part of the World Series in 1991/92, with Steve Davis beating Stephen Hendry 6–3. The final champion was Marco Fu.

History

The Thailand Masters was first held in the 1983/1984 season. It was organised by Matchroom Sport as part of their World Series and sponsored by Camus, but was abandoned after 1986/1987.[1] The event returned to the calendar in 1989 under the Asian Open name and it became a ranking tournament. In its first three years under this name the event was sponsored by 555 and then by Nescafé in 1993. All events took place in Bangkok, Thailand, except in 1990, which was held in China. In the 1991/1992 season two events were held. The Thailand Masters was part of the World Series and the Asian Open was a ranking event.[1][2] In 1993 Dave Harold became the lowest ranked player to win a ranking tournament. He was ranked world number 93, when he beat Darren Morgan 9–3.[2]

The event changed its name to Thailand Open in 1993/1994. The event was held in Bangkok and remained there until the 2002/2003 season.[1][2] It was sponsored by Kloster, before Singha took over for 1995/1996.[1] The event was renamed to the Thailand Masters in the 1997/1998 season and was sponsored by Beer Chang. The only official maximum break in the history of the competition came at the qualifying stages of the 1999 event. Adrian Gunnell compiled it in the first round against Mario Wehrmann. The event didn't have a sponsor again until the 2000/2001 season, when it was sponsored by Blue Eagle and Thai Airways and was sponsored by Singha in 2001/2002.[1] The event lost its ranking status in 2002/2003, after World Snooker decided not to afford a Far East event. The event returned as a domestic event with several players from the Main Tour still competing. The event was last held in the 2006/2007 season with the sponsorship of Sangsom, but was discontinued after that.[1]

Winners

[1][2]

Year	Winner	Runner-up	Final score	Season
Thailand Masters (non-ranking)
1983	Tony Meo	Steve Davis	2–1	1983/84
1984	Jimmy White	Terry Griffiths	4–3	1984/85
1985	Dennis Taylor	Terry Griffiths	4–3	1985/86
1986	James Wattana	Terry Griffiths	2–1	1986/87
Asian Open (ranking)
1989	Stephen Hendry	James Wattana	9–6	1989/90
1990	Stephen Hendry	Dennis Taylor	9–3	1990/91
Thailand Masters (non-ranking)
1991	Steve Davis	Stephen Hendry	6–3	1991/92
Asian Open (ranking)
1992	Steve Davis	Alan McManus	9–3	1991/92
1993	Dave Harold	Darren Morgan	9–3	1992/93
Thailand Open (ranking)
1994	James Wattana	Steve Davis	9–7	1993/94
1995	James Wattana	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9–6	1994/95
1996	Alan McManus	Ken Doherty	9–8	1995/96
1997	Peter Ebdon	Nigel Bond	9–7	1996/97
Thailand Masters (ranking)
1998	Stephen Hendry	John Parrott	9–6	1997/98
1999	Mark Williams	Alan McManus	9–7	1998/99
2000	Mark Williams	Stephen Hendry	9–5	1999/00
2001	Ken Doherty	Stephen Hendry	9–3	2000/01
2002	Mark Williams	Stephen Lee	9–4	2001/02
Thailand Masters (non-ranking)
2003	Noppadon Noppachorn	Rom Surin	5–4	2002/03
2006	Marco Fu	Issara Kachaiwong	5–3	2006/07

References

1. Turner, Chris. "Thailand Open, Thailand Classic, Thailand Masters". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012.
2. Turner, Chris. "Asian Open, Asian Classic, Hong Kong Open". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 7 October 2012.