1988 Masters (snooker)

1988 Benson & Hedges Masters

Tournament information
Dates	24–31 January 1988 (1988-01-24 – 1988-01-31)
Venue	Wembley Conference Centre
City	London
Country	England
Format	Non-ranking event
Total prize fund	£225,000 [1]
Winner's share	£56,000 [2]
Highest break	Steve Davis  (ENG) (126) [2]
Final
Champion	Steve Davis  (ENG)
Runner-up	Mike Hallett  (ENG)
Score	9–0
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The 1988 Masters (officially the 1988 Benson & Hedges Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 24 and 31 January 1988 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England. ^[1] The players ranked inside the top 16 took part in the competition. ^[3]

Defending champion, Dennis Taylor, lost in the first round against Mike Hallett, who had made his debut. Steve Davis won his second Masters title by defeating Hallett 9 frames to 0. This is the only time a whitewash has occurred in a Masters final. ^[4]

Davis received £56,000 as winner, plus £5,000 for making the highest break of the tournament, a 126 in the second frame of the final. ^[3]

Field

Defending champion Dennis Taylor was the number 1 seed with World Champion Steve Davis seeded 2. The remaining places were allocated to players based on the world rankings. Mike Hallett and John Parrott were making their debuts in the Masters.

Prize fund

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

• Winner: £56,000
• Runner-up: £32,000
• Semi-final: £18,000
• Quarter-final: £12,000
• Last 16: £6,000
• Highest break: £5,000
• Total: £225,000 ^[1]

Main draw

^{[3] [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	Dennis Taylor  (NIR)	3
	16	Mike Hallett  (ENG)	5
						16	Mike Hallett	5
						9	Alex Higgins	2
	8	Tony Knowles  (ENG)	4
	9	Alex Higgins  (NIR)	5
											16	Mike Hallett	6
											13	John Parrott	5
	5	Cliff Thorburn  (CAN)	5
	12	Rex Williams  (ENG)	3
						5	Cliff Thorburn	4
						13	John Parrott	5
	4	Neal Foulds  (ENG)	4
	13	John Parrott  (ENG)	5
																16	Mike Hallett	0
																2	Steve Davis	9
	3	Jimmy White  (ENG)	5
	14	Doug Mountjoy  (WAL)	0
						3	Jimmy White	3
						6	Joe Johnson	5
	6	Joe Johnson  (ENG)	5
	11	Willie Thorne  (ENG)	4
											6	Joe Johnson	3
											2	Steve Davis	6
	7	Terry Griffiths  (WAL)	5
	10	Silvino Francisco  (RSA)	3
						7	Terry Griffiths	0
						2	Steve Davis	5
	2	Steve Davis  (ENG)	5
	15	Dean Reynolds  (ENG)	2

Final

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: John Street Wembley Conference Centre, London, England, 31 January 1988.
Steve Davis   England	9–0	Mike Hallett   England
First session:68–55 (61), 130–0 (126), 87–25, 75–20, 99–28 (72), 98–27, 70–33 (53), 59–46
126	Highest break
1	Century breaks	0
4	50+ breaks	0

Century breaks

Two century breaks were made during the tournament: ^[3]

• 126 – Steve Davis
• 105 – John Parrott

References

1. "Rich Masters". Aberdeen Evening Express. 19 September 1987. p. 10.
2. Smith, Terry, ed. (1988). "Benson & Hedges Masters Results". Benson and Hedges Snooker Year (Fifth Edition). Aylesbury: Pelham Books. p. 93. ISBN   0720718309.
3. "Masterly Davis". Snooker Scene. March 1988. pp. 9–15.
4. "The Masters". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 7 January 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
5. "The Masters". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2012.