1987_Masters_(snooker)

1987 Masters (snooker)

1987 Masters (snooker)

Professional non-ranking snooker tournament, Jan/Feb 1987

The 1987 Masters (officially the 1987 Benson & Hedges Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 25 January and 1 February 1987 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England.

Quick Facts Tournament information, Dates ...

Alex Higgins dominated the tournament. He defeated Terry Griffiths in the first round 5–4, after being 2–4 down, and won the match before his fans invaded the Wembley Conference Centre to greet him similar to his 1985 match with Steve Davis in the same round. He then cruised past World Champion Joe Johnson and Tony Meo before facing fellow Irishman Dennis Taylor in the final, which turned out to be a late night finish. Higgins led 8–5 by the evening session, but Taylor won the last 4 frames to win his only Masters title and his first major title since beating Steve Davis in the 1985 World Championship.

This was the first, and to date only, major final to feature 2 players from Northern Ireland. It also stood as the last time a player from Northern Ireland had won a Triple Crown title for over 30 years until Mark Allen's victory in the 2018 Masters.

Also in the 1987 Masters, Ray Reardon made his last appearance in the competition, when he played Joe Johnson. Cliff Thorburn failed to make it three Masters titles in row, when he lost 5–6 to Dennis Taylor in the semi-final. The highest break of the tournament was 136 made by Jimmy White.

Field

Defending champion Cliff Thorburn was the number 1 seed with World Champion Joe Johnson seeded 2. The remaining places were allocated to players based on the world rankings. Neal Foulds was making his debut in the Masters.

Main draw

[1][2]

Last 16
Best of 9 frames 		Quarter-finals
Best of 9 frames 		Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames 		Final
Best of 17 frames
            
1  Cliff Thorburn (CAN) 5
16  Rex Williams (ENG) 1
1 Canada Cliff Thorburn 5
8 England Willie Thorne 3
8  Willie Thorne (ENG) 5
9  Kirk Stevens (CAN) 3
1 Canada Cliff Thorburn 5
4 Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor 6
5  Tony Knowles (ENG) 2
12  Silvino Francisco (RSA) 5
12 South Africa Silvino Francisco 3
4 Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor 5
4  Dennis Taylor (NIR) 5
13  Neal Foulds (ENG) 2
4 Northern Ireland Dennis Taylor 9
7 Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 8
3  Steve Davis (ENG) 2
14  Doug Mountjoy (WAL) 5
14 Wales Doug Mountjoy 4
11 England Tony Meo 5
6  Jimmy White (ENG) 4
11  Tony Meo (ENG) 5
11 England Tony Meo 2
7 Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 6
7  Alex Higgins (NIR) 5
10  Terry Griffiths (WAL) 4
7 Northern Ireland Alex Higgins 5
2 England Joe Johnson 1
2  Joe Johnson (ENG) 5
15  Ray Reardon (WAL) 2

Final

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: John Smyth
Wembley Conference Centre, London, England, 1 February 1987.
Dennis Taylor
 Northern Ireland		 9–8 Alex Higgins
 Northern Ireland
First session: 63–37, 16–89 (56), 49–69, 89–41, 69–33 (65), 48–74, 73–11, 60–40 (60), 22–66, 53–30, 0–113 (98), 63–77, 25–92 (88), 61–50, 118–9 (74), 50–40, 82–0
74 Highest break 98
0 Century breaks 0
3 50+ breaks 3

Century breaks

Total: 7[3]

References

  1. [1]
    "1987 Masters Results". Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  2. [2]
    "The Masters". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  3. [3]
    "1987 Masters". CueTracker - Snooker Results and Statistics Database. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
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