After a 9-0 whitewash over his fellow finalist (technically earlier this year), Neil Robertson aims to successfully defend his European Masters trophy as the first non-Championship League event gets under way. Similar to other tournaments, the European Masters has gone through alternative names, discontinuations, and also revivals as we look at the brief history of this long-standing event.
Commencing as the first ranking event held outside the UK, the European Open was successful in lasting from 1989-97, including winners such as Parrott, Davis, Hendry and White. In keeping to its name, the tournament was held in locations around Europe, namely across cities in France, Belgium and Malta. The event lasted until 1997, where it didn’t return until 2001 for another three editions.
At this point, Malta started to become a regular home for the European Open to which the event was renamed the Malta Cup from 2005 onwards. It ran under this moniker for a few years before it was discontinued from the tour for a considerable number of years. Much like today, the European Masters of past had followed a short-match format which consisted of a series of best-of-9’s followed by a best-of-11 and then best-of-17 final.
It was eight years following the departure of the last Malta Cup until we saw the ‘European’ event return to the scene. The snooker environment was flourishing, with growing partnerships and tournaments being established in various locations. This included many countries (including within Europe) getting their own ‘Masters’ or ‘Opens’. In 2016, we would see the European Masters return to the calendar, and take us to places such as Romania and Belgium, where snooker was growing in popularity.
This leads us to last year, where the event was held in Austria and became a part of the European Series brand, which grouped together the European Masters, German Masters, Shootout and Gibraltar Open. The top performer across these series of events would end up securing a six-figure bonus, which in turn ended up going to Judd Trump following his stellar season. The European Series has since seen additions for this season which include the Championship League and the…Welsh Open?
What I particularly like about the European Masters primarily lies in its concept. A roaming tournament which allows players, fans and spectators to experience snooker as well as the locations it is played in provides a fresh perspective and insight to the fans of the sport within that country. The European Masters, whilst it is short-lived under that name, actually dates back several decades and has seen all of the top players lift the trophy.
Like this Short? Click here to read: Looking Back At Snooker History: World Championship Challenge Matches (1964-68)
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