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1991 Masters (snooker)

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1991 Benson & Hedges Masters
Tournament information
Dates3–10 February 1991 (1991-02-03 – 1991-02-10)
VenueWembley Conference Centre
CityLondon
CountryEngland
OrganisationWPBSA
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund£350,000[1]
Winner's share£100,000[2]
Highest break Dennis Taylor (NIR) (135)[2]
Final
Champion Stephen Hendry (SCO)
Runner-up Mike Hallett (ENG)
Score9–8
← 1990
1992 →

The 1991 Masters (officially the 1991 Benson & Hedges Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 3 and 10 February 1991 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England.[1] The highest break of the tournament was a 135 compiled by Dennis Taylor, for which he earned £7,500.

In the final, defending champion Stephen Hendry performed what is considered to be one of the greatest comebacks in snooker history,[3] when he defeated Mike Hallett 9–8, after trailing 0–7 and 2–8 earlier in the match.

World number 1 Hendry went into the final as a firm 1/6 favourite, and with 9–3 Hendry being the most favoured score with the bookies, but world number 7 Hallett played one of the most dominant snooker sessions by an underdog to win all 7 frames of the afternoon session to take a 7–0 lead. In the first frame of the evening session, Hallett missed the final pink that would have made it 8–0, with Hendry then potting the pink and black to win his first frame of the match. Hendry reduced his arrears to 2–7, but then Hallett made it 8–2 and just one frame from victory. With the Masters title in his sights, Hallett just needed to pot the final pink and black in the eleventh frame to win the match, but he narrowly missed the pink with the rest, allowing Hendry to pot the pink to win the frame and reduce his arrears to 3–8. Despite Hallett having numerous chances in the following six frames, including in the last frame where Hallett led until the last few balls, Hendry eventually made a historic recovery to win 9–8.

Places in the tournament were allocated to the top 16 players in the world rankings. World number one Stephen Hendry was the number 1 seed. Players seeded 15 and 16 (Tony Meo and Alain Robidoux) competed in the wild-card round against Alan McManus, who was the winner of the qualifying event, and Gary Wilkinson (ranked 19), who was the wild-card selection. Martin Clark (ranked 12), Alan McManus, Alain Robidoux, and Gary Wilkinson were making their Masters debuts.

Prize fund

[edit]

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[2]

  • Winner: £100,000
  • Runner-up: £50,000
  • Semi-final: £23,000
  • Quarter-final: £15,000
  • Last 16: £9,000
  • Last 18 (wild-cards): £6,000
  • Highest break: £10,000
  • Total: £350,000[1]

Wild-card round

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Match[4][5] Date Score
WC1 Sunday 3 February  Tony Meo (ENG) (15) 5–3  Gary Wilkinson (ENG)
WC2 Monday 4 February  Alain Robidoux (CAN) (16) 3–5  Alan McManus (SCO)

Main draw

[edit]

[4][5]

Last 16
Best of 9 frames 		Quarter-finals
Best of 9 frames 		Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames 		Final
Best of 17 frames
            
1  Stephen Hendry (SCO) 5
14  John Virgo (ENG) 1
1 Scotland Stephen Hendry 5
15 England Tony Meo 0
8  Dean Reynolds (ENG) 2
15  Tony Meo (ENG) 5
1 Scotland Stephen Hendry 6
4 England Jimmy White 1
5  Doug Mountjoy (WAL) 4
9  Steve James (ENG) 5
9 England Steve James 4
4 England Jimmy White 5
4  Jimmy White (ENG) 5
12  Martin Clark (ENG) 1
1 Scotland Stephen Hendry 9
7 England Mike Hallett 8
3  John Parrott (ENG) 5
11  Willie Thorne (ENG) 3
3 England John Parrott 2
6 Wales Terry Griffiths 5
6  Terry Griffiths (WAL) 5
10  Dennis Taylor (NIR) 2
6 Wales Terry Griffiths 3
7 England Mike Hallett 6
7  Mike Hallett (ENG) 5
 Alan McManus (SCO) 3
7 England Mike Hallett 5
13 England Neal Foulds 1
2  Steve Davis (ENG) 4
13  Neal Foulds (ENG) 5

Final

[edit]
Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: John Street
Wembley Conference Centre, London, England, 10 February 1991.
Stephen Hendry
 Scotland 		9–8 Mike Hallett
 England
First session: 59–84 (Hendry 59, Hallett 80), 4–58, 12–93 (53), 29–81, 41–87 (87), 7–88 (73), 0–77, 73–67 (60), 73–35, 58–70 (Hendry 53), 67–49, 61–50, 67–43, 72–15, 63–14, 64–57, 51–41
60 Highest break 87
0 Century breaks 0
3 50+ breaks 4

Qualifying Event

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Alan McManus won the qualifying tournament, known as the 1990 Benson & Hedges Satellite Championship at the time beating James Wattana 9–5 in the final to qualify for the main tournament at Wembley.[6] The tournament was played at the Masters Club in Glasgow between 1 and 6 December 1990.

Century breaks

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Total: 9[7]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Hendry red-hot favourite for treble". Aberdeen Evening Express. 30 January 1991. p. 17.
  2. ^ a b c Terry Smith, ed. (1991). "Benson & Hedges Masters Results". Benson and Hedges Snooker Year (Eighth Edition). London: Pelham Books. p. 79. ISBN 0720719836.
  3. ^ Vedat, Ismail (17 January 2014). "Snooker's greatest comeback: 'It took me six months to get over it'". ESPN UK. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  4. ^ a b "1991 Masters Results". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  5. ^ a b "The Masters". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  6. ^ Turner, Chris. "Benson & Hedges Championship, Masters Qualifying Tournament". cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 23 December 2010.
  7. ^ "1991 Masters". CueTracker - Snooker Results and Statistics Database. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
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