1999 Masters (snooker)

1999 Benson & Hedges Masters
Tournament information
Dates7–14 February 1999 (1999-02-07 – 1999-02-14)
VenueWembley Conference Centre
CityLondon
CountryEngland
OrganisationWPBSA
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund£575,000
Winner's share£155,000
Highest break Mark Williams (WAL) (123)
Final
Champion John Higgins (SCO)
Runner-up Ken Doherty (IRL)
Score10–8
← 1998
2000 →

The 1999 Masters (officially the 1999 Benson & Hedges Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 7 and 14 February 1999 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England. The wild-card matches were extended from 9 to 11 frames.

John Higgins defeated Ken Doherty 10–8 in the final to win his first Masters title. He had also won the World title (where he also defeated Doherty) and UK title in 1998, meaning that at the time he held all three Triple Crown titles simultaneously. Before his semi-final match Higgins had said, referring to the possibility of holding all three titles, "That triple crown would be a dream but it's going to be tough."[1] After his win, the term "Triple Crown" was used in a number of newspapers to describe Higgins' feat.[2][3]

Field

Defending champion Mark Williams was the number 1 seed with World Champion John Higgins seeded 2. Places were allocated to the top 16 players in the world rankings. Players seeded 15 and 16 played in the wild-card round against the winner of the qualifying event, David Gray (ranked 61), and Jimmy White (ranked 18), who was the wild-card selection. David Gray and Mark King were making their debuts in the Masters.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:[4]
Winner: £155,000
Runner-up: £80,000
Semi-finalist: £40,000
Quarter finalist: £26,000
Last 16: £15,000
Wild-card round: £9,000

High break Prize: £18,000
Maximum break: B&H Gold Award and a Honda car

Total: £575,000

Wild-card round

In the preliminary round, the wild-card players plays the 15th and 16th seeds:[4][5]

Match Date Score
WC1 Sunday 7 February  James Wattana (THA) (15) 6–2  David Gray (ENG)
WC2 Sunday 7 February  Mark King (ENG) (16) 6–5  Jimmy White (ENG)

Main draw

[4][5]

Last 16
Best of 11 frames 		Quarter-finals
Best of 11 frames 		Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames 		Final
Best of 19 frames
            
1  Mark Williams (WAL) 6
13  Nigel Bond (ENG) 0
1 Wales Mark Williams 4
8 Scotland Alan McManus 6
8  Alan McManus (SCO) 6
9  Stephen Lee (ENG) 2
8 Scotland Alan McManus 3
5 Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 6
5  Ken Doherty (IRL) 6
14  Steve Davis (ENG) 4
5 Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 6
4 England Ronnie O'Sullivan 2
4  Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) 6
15  James Wattana (THA) 5
5 Republic of Ireland Ken Doherty 8
2 Scotland John Higgins 10
3  Stephen Hendry (SCO) 4
10  Tony Drago (MLT) 6
10 Malta Tony Drago 5
11 England Anthony Hamilton 6
6  John Parrott (ENG) 4
11  Anthony Hamilton (ENG) 6
11 England Anthony Hamilton 3
2 Scotland John Higgins 6
7  Peter Ebdon (ENG) 5
16  Mark King (ENG) 6
16 England Mark King 1
2 Scotland John Higgins 6
2  John Higgins (SCO) 6
12  Alain Robidoux (CAN) 1

Final

Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Jan Verhass
Wembley Conference Centre, London, England, 14 February 1999.[4]
Ken Doherty (5)
 Ireland 		8–10 John Higgins (2)
 Scotland
Afternoon: 31–83, 69–52, 60–66 (66), 34–61, 72–1, 27–80 (76), 76–31, 56–21
Evening: 0–78 (78), 20–88, 97–29 (90), 109–0 (109), 73–10 (59), 95–7 (95)
0–88 (64), 43–81, 15–69, 35–72
109 Highest break 78
1 Century breaks 0
4 50+ breaks 4

Qualifying

David Gray won the qualifying tournament, known as the 1998 Benson & Hedges Championship at the time.[6]

Century breaks

Total: 12[7]

James Wattana's century was scored in the wild-card round.

References

  1. ^ "Snooker: O'Sullivan is beaten by bruised Doherty". The Independent. 13 February 1999. Archived from the original on 1 May 2022.
  2. ^ "Hat-trick hero John on a high". The Daily Record. 15 February 1999. p. 35.
  3. ^ Everton, Clive (21 February 1999). "Snooker Dott to face Hendry". The Independent on Sunday.
  4. ^ a b c d "Benson & Hedges Masters 1999". Snooker.org. Retrieved 4 April 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. ^ "1999 Masters". CueTracker - Snooker Results and Statistics Database. Retrieved 19 January 2015.