New sponsorship deal and venue secured

The future of the Irish Masters Snooker Tournament has been secured. Details of a new sponsorship deal and a new venue are to be announced next Tuesday at Citywest Hotel, where 12 of the game's leading players will attend.

For 23 years, the Irish Masters had been the country's premier snooker event under the sponsorship of Benson and Hedges. But its future seemed to hang in the balance after the cigarette company were forced to discontinue sponsorship last September because of Department of Health regulations.

Since then, however, tournament director Kevin Norton remained determined to secure its future. And his success can be gauged from the fact that Steve Davis, Ken Doherty, Peter Ebdon, Stephen Hendry, John Higgins (holder), Stephen Lee, Alan McManus, Fergal O'Brien, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Matthew Stephens, Jimmy White and Mark Williams will be among the guests at next Tuesday's function.

The new arrangement will involve a three-year commitment, with Government support. And with the departure from Goff's in Kill, the fact Citywest Hotel has been chosen for Tuesday's announcement would point to the event moving to their 4,000-seat facility.

There is no indication of prize money, but the expectation is it will be at least comparable to last year's level when the winner, Higgins received u £70,000. Runner-up Hendry received u £30,000.