Joe Johnson is an English former professional snooker player and commentator. He won the 1986 World Championship after starting the tournament as a 150–1 outsider, and was runner-up in 1987. In 1987 he reached the final of the English Amateur Championship, where he was defeated 6–13 by Terry Griffiths, and the final of the 1978 World Amateur Championship, which he lost 5–11 to Cliff Wilson. Johnson turned professional in 1979 and later reached the final of the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, where he lost 8–9 to Tony Knowles. In 1986 he defeated Steve Davis 18–12 to win the 1986 World Championship. Following a string of poor results after winning the title, he reached the final again in 1987, this time losing 14–18 to Davis.
Anthony Christian Meo is a retired English snooker player. He won the 1989 British Open by defeating Dean Reynolds 13–6 in the final, and was runner-up to Steve Davis at the 1984 Classic. He won four World Doubles Championship titles, partnering Davis, and the 1983 World Team Classic representing England alongside Davis and Tony Knowles.
Terence Martin Griffiths is a Welsh retired professional snooker player and current snooker coach and pundit. In his second professional tournament, he became world champion when he won the 1979 World Snooker Championship. He was the second qualifier to win the title after Alex Higgins achieved the feat in 1972; only Shaun Murphy has done it since, winning the title in 2005. Griffiths defeated Dennis Taylor by 24 frames to 16 in the final. Nine years later, in 1988, Griffiths reached the final of the competition again. He was tied with Steve Davis at 8–8, but lost the match 11–18.
Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1980, defeating Alex Higgins 18–16 in the final. He is generally recognised as the sport's first world champion from outside the United Kingdom—since Australian Horace Lindrum's 1952 title is usually disregarded—and he remains the only world champion from the Americas. He was runner-up in two other world championships, losing 21–25 to John Spencer in the 1977 final and 6–18 to Steve Davis in the 1983 final. At the 1983 tournament, Thorburn became the first player to make a maximum break in a World Championship match, achieving the feat in his second-round encounter with Terry Griffiths.
Doug Mountjoy was a Welsh snooker player from Tir-y-Berth, Gelligaer, Wales. He was a member of the professional snooker circuit from the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, and remained within the top 16 of the world rankings for 11 consecutive years. He began his professional snooker career by taking the 1977 Masters, which he entered as a reserve player. He won both the 1978 UK Championship and the 1979 Irish Masters. Mountjoy reached the final of the 1981 World Snooker Championship where he was defeated by Steve Davis. He was also runner-up at the 1985 Masters losing to Cliff Thorburn, but by 1988 he had dropped out of the top 16.
William Joseph Thorne was an English professional snooker player. He won one ranking title, the 1985 Classic. He also reached the final of the 1985 UK Championship, losing 16–14 to Steve Davis after leading 13–8. He was noted for his break-building, and was among the first players to compile 100 century breaks. He earned the nickname "Mr Maximum". After retiring as a player, Thorne became a snooker commentator, primarily for the BBC.
Edward FrancisCharlton, was an Australian professional snooker and English billiards player. He remains the only player to have been world championship runner-up in both snooker and billiards without winning either title. He later became a successful marketer of sporting goods launching a popular brand of billiard room equipment bearing his name.
Neal Foulds is an English former professional snooker player and six-time tournament winner, including the 1986 International Open, the 1988 Dubai Masters and the 1992 Scottish Masters, as well as the invitational Pot Black in 1992. He was the runner up at the 1986 UK Championship, the British Open in 1987 and reached the semi-finals of the Masters on three occasions, as well as the World Championship. After his retirement, Foulds became a commentator for the BBC and is currently part of the presenting team for ITV and Eurosport.
Anthony Knowles is an English former professional snooker player. He won the 1982 International Open and the 1983 Professional Players Tournament, and was a three times semi-finalist in the World Professional Snooker Championship in the 1980s. His highest world ranking was second, in the 1984/85 season.
Dean Reynolds is an English former professional snooker player whose career spanned twenty years from 1981 to 2001.
The Masters is a professional invitational snooker tournament. Held every year since 1975, it is the second-longest-running professional tournament after the World Snooker Championship. It is one of the three Triple Crown events, and although not a ranking event, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious tournaments on the circuit. and is currently televised by the BBC as part of its agreement with World Snooker to broadcast the prestigious Triple Crown events. The reigning champion is Judd Trump.
The European Masters is a professional ranking snooker tournament that has been staged periodically since 1989 as the European Open. Between 2005 and 2008 it was known as the Malta Cup and was the sole ranking tournament in Europe outside the British Isles, before being discontinued. In 2016, the event was resurrected and rebranded the European Masters.
Dene O'Kane is a former professional snooker player from Auckland, New Zealand.
The 1989 Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 22 and 29 January 1989 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England. The prize money for the highest break was £6,000. The top 16 players were invited for the tournament.
The 1989 Irish Masters was the fifteenth edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament, which took place from 28 March to 2 April 1989. The tournament was played at Goffs in Kill, County Kildare, and featured twelve professional players.
The 1989 Regal Scottish Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 13 and 17 September 1989 at the Scottish Exhibition Centre in Glasgow, Scotland.
The New Zealand Masters was a non-ranking snooker tournament staged on four occasions between 1983 and 1989 when the British circuit was in its close season. The first event was held in 1983. The 1984 event at the Kingsgate Convention Centre in Auckland, and saw Jimmy White defeat Kirk Stevens 5–3 in the final. There was a gap of four years before the final two events were held, both in the Legislative Chamber of the New Zealand Parliament. The final of the first event in 1988 was won by Stephen Hendry, defeating Mike Hallett 6–1, while the final tournament in 1989 saw Willie Thorne defeat Joe Johnson 7–4 in the final.
The 1984 Winfield New Zealand Masters was a professional invitational snooker tournament, which took place in July 1984 at the Kingsgate Convention Centre in Auckland, New Zealand. It was the first professional snooker tournament to be held in the country.
The 1988 Lion Brown New Zealand Masters was a professional invitational snooker tournament which took place between 22 and 26 May 1988 at the Legislative Chamber of the New Zealand Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand.
The September 2020 European Masters was a professional ranking snooker tournament which took place from 21 to 27 September 2020 at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, England. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, it was the first completed ranking event of the 2020–21 season. The competition was the 22nd edition of the European Masters, first held in 1989 and the second held in 2020 after the January 2020 European Masters. The event featured 128 participants with five withdrawing from the event due to COVID-19 and another because of his snooker cue being stolen. The winner of the event won £80,000 from a total prize fund of £407,000. The event was sponsored by betting company BetVictor.
Willie Thorne 
