1980
Terry Griffiths, world champion at his first attempt the previous spring, also won the Masters at his first time of asking, beating Higgins 9-5 for the �4,500 first prize in front of a crowd of 2,323.

1981
Higgins took �6,000 for beating Griffiths in the final, despite a new tournament record of 136 from the loser.

There were two amazing semi-final recoveries. Griffiths beat Spencer 6-5 after needing two snookers to tie when he was 5-2 down.

Higgins, ashen faced from being violently ill throughout the morning - for which he blamed 'some West Country mustard' he had eaten with a steak the previous evening - trailed Thorburn 5-1 but came through 6-5.

1982
Steve Davis, beaten by Mans on his Masters debut the previous year, won the first of his three Masters titles, beating Griffiths, appearing in his third consecutive final, 9-5.

1983
Thorburn won the �16,000 first prize, holding off a late rally from Reardon to win 9-7, after needing five hours, ten minutes to beat Eddie Charlton 6-5 in the semis from three down with four to play.

1984
With the first prize more than doubled to �35,000, Jimmy White beat Griffiths for the title although the drama of the event came in his semi-final the previous evening.

Kirk Stevens was trailing White 5-3 when he made what was then only the fourth 147 ever made in tournament play.

It remains the only one in Masters history. White responded with a break of 119 to clinch victory at 6-4.

1985
Uniquely, the tournament's opening frame produced not only a century, 103, but one which earned Thorburn the highest break prize, �3,750, to add to the �37,500 first prize.

1986
Thorburn beat White 9-5 to become the first player either to retain the trophy or to win it three times.

1987
Dennis Taylor, who had won only one match in ten previous appearances at the Masters, beat Higgins from three down with four to play in a final which ran live on BBC until 01:09 GMT.

Paul Newman, familiar with Pool through his role in The Hustler but not with Snooker, was nevertheless so fascinated that he watched in his London hotel till the very end.

1988
Davis inflicted on Mike Hallett the only 9-0 final whitewash in the history of the Masters but Hallett's 6-5 semi-final win over John Parrott was even more remarkable.

With only the colours remaining in the decider, Parrott led by 43 but conceded 22 points in penalties and Hallett potted the remaining balls to win on the black.

1989
Stephen Hendry won the title - and �62,000 - on his debut although the event was overshadowed by unsubstantiated allegations of score fixing in furtherance of an alleged betting coup against Silvino Francisco, a 5-1 loser to Terry Griffiths.