Full house for White's clash with Williams

When Dennis Taylor played compatriot Dessie Sheehan in the opening match of the Benson and Hedges Irish Masters at Goff's 15 years ago, the Tuesday afternoon clash was watched by 26 spectators. This afternoon, Jimmy White will have a sell-out attendance for his corresponding tie with Mark Williams.

It is a measure of the enduring appeal of one of snooker's all-time favourites. Small matter that Williams is 2 to 5 favourite to win the match and that White's last triumph at Goff's was in 1986, when he successfully defended the title.

There was a similar situation for the Irish Snooker Open in the National Basketball Arena in Tallaght last December. Then, White had the biggest crowd of the week watching him lose in the opening round to Peter Ebdon. Now, the faithful will rejoice at his return to the world's top-16, as the provisional number 15.

White arrived in Dublin last Saturday and spent the weekend working on his golf handicap at CityWest. "I can hardly believe this is my 17th appearance in the Irish Masters," said the Londoner, who is here on a wild card. And despite his recent resurgence, he insisted: "It doesn't get any easier, that's for sure."

Ken Doherty, who is seeded through to a quarter-final meeting with either Stephen Lee or Alan McManus on Thursday afternoon, is joined by another Irish representative, Michael Judge, who is a wildcard. And Doherty still has difficulty in coming to terms with his status as the defending champion.

"It doesn't feel like it, mainly because I have no memory of cheering crowds and the thrill of holding up the trophy," he said. This is explained by the fact that the Dubliner became champion by default, when Ronnie O'Sullivan was stripped of the title and the winning cheque, after being found guilty of drug abuse.

O'Sullivan is back in action as joint third favourite to do a proper job, this time around. He goes into action on Thursday night in a quarter-final match against Irish Open champion Williams, or the mercurial White.

Despite a remarkably poor record at Goff's, John Higgins, the world number one, is still a logical, 15 to 8 favourite for a title which fellow Scot Stephen Hendry captured in 1997. "It could be that I've been enjoying the hospitality too much," said Higgins by way of explanation.

He has the added incentive on this occasion of completing a notable double of the British and Irish Masters. Memories are still fresh of his thrilling, 10-8 victory over Doherty in the final of the Benson and Hedges British Masters at Wembley last month. Through that success, he became only the third player, along with Hendry and Steve Davis, to become the holder of the World, UK and British Masters titles.

Though it has been riven by damaging, administrative in-fighting in recent years, snooker's appeal has been protected to a significant degree by the guaranteed appearance of all the leading players. This explains the continued support of Benson and Hedges with a prize fund of £200,000 of which £75,000 goes to the winner.

And the wild-card system is clearly welcomed by a player like Judge, whose current, 79th-place world ranking would give him no other direct route towards serious prize money of this nature.

Judge, from Shankill, will realise a boyhood dream by playing at Goff's. The son of an Irish father and a Lebanese mother, he learned the game from his uncle, Francisco Michael, who took him to the tournament for the first time about 10 years ago.

"Winning five out of my nine singles matches for Ireland in the recent Nations Cup has been a great boost," said the 23-year-old. On his first round match tomorrow against the 1995 champion Peter Ebdon, he said. "I fancy my chances against him. The only time we have met was in the 1997 British Open in which he beat me 5-3. And there was no disgrace in that."

In the event, the prospect of a full house this afternoon will set the scene for what promises to be an intriguing week.