2001 Masters (snooker)

The 2001 Benson & Hedges Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 4 and 11 February 2001 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England.

Benson & Hedges Masters
Tournament information
Dates4–11 February 2001
VenueWembley Conference Centre
CityLondon
CountryEngland
Organisation(s)WPBSA
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund£650,000
Winner's share£175,000
Highest break Paul Hunter (136)
Jimmy White (136)
Final
Champion Paul Hunter
Runner-up Fergal O'Brien
Score10–9
← 2000
2002 →

Paul Hunter won the first of his three Masters titles by defeating Fergal O'Brien in a dramatic final match. O'Brien had led 6–2 at the end of the afternoon session, but Hunter dominated the evening session by compiling four century breaks in six frames to lead 9–8 and finally winning the title 10–9 after a long final frame.

Also in the competition, Steve Davis had failed to compete for the first time since 1980, after he had dropped out of the top 16 the previous season and was denied a wild-card. Jimmy White took the wild-card entry as he was the local favourite. A future World Champion Shaun Murphy played in his television debut after winning the Benson and Hedges Championship a few months previously and defeated Marco Fu 6–1 in the wild-card round before losing against Stephen Hendry 4–6 in the first round. The highest break of the tournament was 136, which was achieved by both Paul Hunter and Jimmy White.

Field

Defending champion Matthew Stevens was the number 1 seed with World Champion Mark Williams 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, Shaun Murphy (ranked 151), and Jimmy White (ranked 18), who was the wild-card selection. Shaun Murphy was making his debut in the Masters.

Prize fund

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

  • Winner: £175,000
  • Runner-up: £88,000
  • Highest break: £20,000
  • Total: £650,000

Wild-card round

[1][2]

Match Date Score
WC1 Sunday 4 February Marco Fu (15) 1–6 Shaun Murphy
WC2 Sunday 4 February Joe Swail (16) 1–6 Jimmy White

Main draw

[1][2]

Last 16
Best of 11 frames 		Quarter-finals
Best of 11 frames 		Semi-finals
Best of 11 frames 		Final
Best of 19 frames
            
1 Matthew Stevens 5
14 Paul Hunter 6
14 Paul Hunter 6
12 Peter Ebdon 3
8 Alan McManus 4
12 Peter Ebdon 6
14 Paul Hunter 6
4 Stephen Hendry 4
5 Ronnie O'Sullivan 2
Jimmy White 6
Jimmy White 4
4 Stephen Hendry 6
4 Stephen Hendry 6
Shaun Murphy 4
14 Paul Hunter 10
9 Fergal O'Brien 9
3 John Higgins 3
13 Dave Harold 6
13 Dave Harold 6
10 John Parrott 5
6 Stephen Lee 5
10 John Parrott 6
13 Dave Harold 4
9 Fergal O'Brien 6
7 Ken Doherty 6
11 Anthony Hamilton 1
7 Ken Doherty 2
9 Fergal O'Brien 6
2 Mark Williams 5
9 Fergal O'Brien 6

Final
Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Jan Verhaas
Wembley Conference Centre, London, England, 11 February 2001.[1]
Paul Hunter (14)
 England		 10–9 Fergal O'Brien (9)
 Ireland
Afternoon: 40–59, 57–68, 67–44, 48–80 (80), 30–72, 56–71, 78–0 (51), 34–64
Evening: 61–53 (Hunter 52), 54–57, 51–43, 133–6 (129), 136–0 (101), 0–88 (88), 104–0 (75), 136–0 (136), 132–0 (132), 44–62, 77–44
136 Highest break 88
4 Century breaks 0
7 50+ breaks 2

Qualifying

Shaun Murphy won the qualifying tournament, known as the 2000 Benson & Hedges Championship at the time.[3] David McLellan made his only maximum break against Steve Meakin.[4]

Century breaks

Total: 19[5]

Shaun Murphy's two century breaks and Jimmy White's 136 were scored in the wild-card round.

References
  1. "Benson & Hedges Masters 2001". Snooker.org. Retrieved 24 October 2010.
  2. "The Masters". Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  3. 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.
  4. Turner, Chris. "Maximum Breaks". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 7 April 2010. Retrieved 2 April 2010.
  5. "2001 Masters". CueTracker - Snooker Results and Statistics Database. Retrieved 19 January 2015.
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