IF THERE is one thing that a snooker player knows the value of these days it's a sponsor. Several of the sport's most prominent events now receive no commercial funding and so, when it came time to do their bit for Benson and Hedges in Dublin yesterday, the pick of the men lined up to compete in the forthcoming Irish Masters needed very little prompting.

While Dubliners Ken Doherty and Stephen Murphy chatted effortlessly with a long succession of old friends, world champion Stephen Hendry looked almost as at home, pressing flesh, be it corporate or media, and dishing out the old standard about just what a special place Goffs occupies in the heart of every player.

It would, of course, be easy to take this as simply another of those great sporting lies ("Peterborough is the one and only club that I would have left United for" that sort of thing) but the strange thing about the players and Goffs is that the more often you hear the line, the more genuine it seems to sound.

Yesterday it was the turn of Stephen Murphy to sing the venue's praises and, despite having only experienced it before from the spectators' area, he was certainly in no doubt about where it stood in the great snooker scheme of things.

"It's the finest venue in the sport, without a doubt. Well, maybe the Crucible in Sheffield when it's down to one table, I've never experienced that, but otherwise there isn't a place to touch it."

He may have been told of his wild card for this year's event some weeks ago but his excitement at the prospect is still very obvious in conversation and his motivation goes well beyond the thought of adding to the £6,000 he is guaranteed for showing up in a couple of weeks time.

"Obviously the money is a big thing, I'm a professional and I have to think about that side of things but with this more than any other event it's about a lot more than that. Every year when I was a kid I was there at Goffs and it has always been a dream for me to play there. That's what this is about, not just whatever cash I might get out of it."

Equally enthusiastic about the setting is Hendry, world champion as well as the sport's leading player whose form this year has been such that he will not even have to go through the ritual of retrieving the number one spot for the summer by retaining his world crown.

Hendry has a surprisingly poor record at Kill with one title and another couple of finals to his credit and this, particularly given the quality of the setting, remains something of a mystery to him. "It's funny because I tend to play my best snooker in the best venues and yet I've rarely produced the goods at Goffs. l love coming here and l come back every year believing that l will win it but for some reason that hasn't happened nearly as much as I would have liked."

Given his form in recent months this month might well provide an opportunity for the Scotsman to improve his strike rate although there is also the prospect of what would prove to be an even more popular victory.

Ken Doherty will return home for the Irish Masters with his best ever season under his belt and, while he is justifiably pleased with the form that has edged him towards the top three in the world he is anxiously looking for the opportunity to make the next leap forward.

"I've been very consistent over the last year and that's important but while I'm happy to be making semi-finals more regularly (he has made four this past year) I want to be in there challenging for titles and I'd dearly love to win this."

First, though, he must beat eight times winner Steve Davis on the second day of the event and while he jokes about the Englishman getting older and slower, he might not be entirely joking when he tells the crowd at the tournament launch that the former world champion is his bet for the title.