NEWS
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Player Report - * Hendry escapes serious injury * The world champion Stephen Hendry escaped unhurt following a horrifying crash on the M25 in Essex. Hendry was being driven to his hotel at Wembley having fulfilled an engagement at Bishops' Stortford when the draw bar trailer to a 38-ton lorry, parted company with the main unit. It careered out of control ahead of Hendry's Mercedes which was being driven as usual, by John Carroll, Operations Director at Cuemasters, his Stirling based management stable, and smashed its way into banking at the side of the motorway. A van in the middle lane swerved to avoid the trailer as it overturned and twisted round, before it struck a mini bus which was trapped in an outside lane with nowhere to go. "We were 80-100 yards behind the mini bus but managed to weave our way through the debris. It was a terrifying moment," said Carroll who alerted the emergency services on his mobile. Hendry had been to a question and answer forum at a local school where 14-17 year olds grilled him for an hour. "I suppose we travelling at about 70 mph at the time of the accident and were lucky that a gap opened up when it did," added Carroll. - 11/Feb - |
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Player Report - Stephen Lee, dubbed Rolls-Royce because of his silky smooth cue action, is revving up to win the Benson & Hedges Masters. World No.6 Lee's methodical style has earned him morale-boosting victories over Ronnie O'Sullivan and Stephen Hendry, and a mushrooming reputation on the circuit. But his preparation for tomorrow's start at Wembley Conference Centre has revolved around speeding up his attack in a bid to claim the first prize. Lee, 25, said, "I have been working on tempo. When you play slowly it can give you too much time to make mistakes. "Things are starting to work for me now on the table, even when I play at a much faster pace." Lee's head-spinning rise to the top has so far brought him just one major trophy, the 1998 Grand Prix. He said, "I've had a great start to the year with good performances in the Regal Welsh and in China." Lee's first match here will meet Irishman Fergal O'Brien in the second round on Monday. - 5/Feb - |
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Event Report - This is a very prestigious invitational event sponsored by Benson & Hedges. It is the second eldest tournament today after the Embassy World Championship. Only the top 16 in the world ranking last season can be invited into the event. Others had to go through the Benson & Hedges Championship (Our Reports), and only the winner can be invited to here. With it long history from 1975, please visit our Former Winners to see some interest figures. This year, the tournament is lasting during the Chinese New Year Festival. Webmaster wish you a happy Chinese New Year! - 4/Feb - |
| Sunday : Final (13/Feb) *Highlight* | ||
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Ken Doherty suffered the double agony of missing a maximum 147 and finishing
as runner-up agains as Matthew Stevens won the Masters for the first time. Doherty, last year's beaten finalist, seemed on the verge of defeat at 9-5 down, but missing the 147 on the black inspired him to cut the gap to 9-8. Stevens, who had generally played the better snooker, looked nervous but finally got over the winning line. He received the gold trophy with the cheque of GBP 165,000 and became the 16th master in the 26-year history. |
| Saturday : Semi Finals (12/Feb) *Highlight* | ||
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The Welsh ace Matthew Stevens reached his first-ever Masters final in style
with a 6-2 defeat of veteran John Parrott. Ken Doherty claimed his second 6-0 whitewash victory of this year's event to cruise past Stephen Lee and reach the final for the second year in a row. |
| Friday : Quarter Finals (11/Feb) *Highlight* | ||
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In-form Stephen Lee defeated the 1998 champion Mark Williams in a scrappy match. Stephen Hendry still can not get pass his old enemy Ken Doherty, he lost 6-3. Due to these two days results, it means there will be a new 17th Champion in B&H Masters this year on Sunday. |
| Thursday : Quarter Finals (10/Feb) *Highlight* | ||
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Matthew Stevens played solidly today and almost had a whitewash over Jimmy White.
But he finally sealed his victory though White tried to fight back at the end. Despite making a quickfire 113 clearance in frame five, Ronnie O'Sullivan couldn't keep consistency and lost to John Parrott by 6-3. |
| Wednesday : Second Rounds (9/Feb) *Highlight* | ||
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The wildcard Ali Carter couldn't continue his form from yesterday and
swallowed a whitewash from last year's runner-up Ken Doherty. And the title-hunter Stephen Hendry safely went through to next stage with some heavyweight potting. He cancelled the left-handed Mark King by 6-3. |
| Tuesday : Second Rounds (8/Feb) *Highlight* | ||
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It was far from a classic encounter - in fact it was unbelievably poor as
both man missed pot after pot. But Jimmy White made it a night to remember
for his army of fans as he knocked out defending champion and world number
one John Higgins 6-4. In the other match, Mark Williams shrugged off Peter Ebdon 6-3 to set up a quarter-final clash with Stephen Lee. |
| Monday : First/Second Rounds (7/Feb) *Highlight* | ||
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1st-Round Match:
Steve Davis, making his 20th successive appearance in the event, was clearly shaken after being shocked 6-5 by world number 142 Ali Carter at the Conference Center. Davis was in command as he went 3-0 and 4-1 ahead but all of the sudden he lost frames just like he blew a 4-0 lead while against Ryan Day in the Welsh Open. 2nd-Round Matches: Inform Stephen Lee produced a great fightback to deny Fergal O'Brien in their morning marathon match which overran the afternoon match. The world number six from Trowbridge reached the quarter-finals and insisted it is titles and not fame he is interested in. And Ronnie O'Sullivan delighted his fans as he produced the goods in a 6-4 success over Anthony Hamilton. While 0-3 down, the 1995 champion made a fabulous clearance of 126 in frame four, to get himself flying. |
| Sunday : First/Second Rounds (6/Feb) *Highlight* | ||
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1-st Round Match: Jimmy White gave his army of fans just what they wanted with a sizzling 6-3 win over Masters debutant Macro Fu including a classic break of 117. The 37-year-old's pulling power is as strong as ever and the crowd went crazy as he came back from 1-3 to win five frames on the trot with some great pot. 2-nd Round Matches: John Parrott gave himself a boost as the first man booked his place in the quarter-finals with a 6-3 win over Paul Hunter. The three-times Masters runner-up made a sparkling start in the morning, while Hunter battled with the fluency. Alan McManus' problems continued as he was bundled out 6-2 by Matthew Stevens at the Conference Center. The 1994 champion and last year's semi-finalist has had a sorry run of late, and he suffered a killer blow in the very first frame of this clash. |
Results
(If you would like to see any individual reports, please touch
the score line. Or try see the whole reports)
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Final ( best of 19 frames )
Semi Finals
Quarter Finals
Second Rounds
First Rounds
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| 2nd-round (best of 11 frames) | Quarter-Finals (best of 11 frames) | Semi-Finals (best of 11 frames) | Final (best of 19 frames) | ||||||||
| J Higgins J White |
4 6 |
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| J White M Stevens |
3 6 |
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| A McManus M Stevens |
2 6 |
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| M Stevens J Parrott |
6 2 |
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| J Parrott P Hunter |
6 3 |
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| J Parrott R O'Sullivan |
6 3 |
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| R O'Sullivan A Hamilton |
6 4 |
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| M Stevens K Doherty |
10 8 |
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| M Williams P Ebdon |
6 3 |
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| M Williams S Lee |
4 6 |
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| S Lee F O'Brien |
6 4 |
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| S Lee K Doherty |
0 6 |
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| K Doherty A Carter |
6 0 |
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| K Doherty S Hendry |
6 3 |
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| S Hendry M King |
6 3 |
| 140 | Ken Doherty |
|---|---|
| 137 | Stephen Hendry |
| 126 | Ronnie O'Sullivan |
| 122 | Matthew Stevens |
| 118 | Ken Doherty |
| Matthew Stevens | |
| 117 | Jimmy White |
| 113 | Ronnie O'Sullivan |
| 112 | Anthony Hamilton |
| 106 | Stephen Hendry |
| 104 | Ken Doherty |
| Stephen Hendry | |
| 101 | Stephen Lee |
PRIZE
| Place | Price |
| Winner | 165,000 |
| Runner-up | 85,000 |
| Losing semi-finalists | 43,000 |
| Losing quater-finalists | 28,000 |
| Last Second Round | 16,000 |
| Last First Round | 10,000 |
| 1 Pound = | 1.61 ¬üª÷ |
| Highest break | 19,000 |
| 147 Maximum break | B&H Gold Award plus Honda NSX car |
| Total prize money | 615,000 |
POINT
| This is not a ranking event |
FORMER WINNERS
| Season | Winner | Score | Runner-up |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99/00 | Matthew Stevens (Wal) | 10-8 | Ken Doherty (Ire) |
| 98/99 | John Higgins (Sco) | 10-8 | Ken Doherty (Ire) |
| 97/98 | Mark J Williams (Wal) | 10-9 | Stephen Hendry (Sco) |
| 96/97 | Steve Davis (Eng) | 10-8 | Ronnie O'Sulliven (Eng) |
| 95/96 | Stephen Hendry (Sco) | 10-5 | Ronnie O'Sulliven (Eng) |
| 94/95 | Ronnie O'Sullivan (Eng) | 9-3 | John Higgins (Sco) |
| 93/94 | Alan McManus (Sco) | 9-8 | Stephen Hendry (Sco) |
| 92/93 | Stephen Hendry (Sco) | 9-5 | James Wattana (Thai) |
| 91/92 | Stephen Hendry (Sco) | 9-4 | John Parrott (Eng) |
| 90/91 | Stephen Hendry (Sco) | 9-8 | Mike Hallett (Eng) |
| 89/90 | Stephen Hendry (Sco) | 9-4 | John Parrott (Eng) |
| 88/89 | Stephen Hendry (Sco) | 9-6 | John Parrott (Eng) |
| 87/88 | Steve Davis (Eng) | 9-0 | Mike Hallett (Eng) |
| 86/87 | Dennis Taylor (NI) | 9-8 | Alex Higgins (NI) |
| 85/86 | Cliff Thorburn (Can) | 9-5 | Jimmy White (Eng) |
| 84/85 | Cliff Thorburn (Can) | 9-6 | Doug Mountjoy (Wal) |
| 83/84 | Jimmy White (Eng) | 9-5 | Terry Griffiths (Wal) |
| 82/83 | Cliff Thorburn (Can) | 9-7 | Ray Reardon (Wal) |
| 81/82 | Steve Davis (Eng) | 9-5 | Terry Griffiths (Wal) |
| 80/81 | Alex Higgins (NI) | 9-6 | Terry Griffiths (Wal) |
| 79/80 | Terry Griffiths (Wal) | 9-5 | Alex Higgins (NI) |
| 78/79 | Perrie Mans (S. Africa) | 8-4 | Alex Higgins (NI) |
| 77/78 | Alex Higgins (NI) | 7-5 | Cliff Thorburn (Can) |
| 76/77 | Doug Mountjoy (Wal) | 7-6 | Ray Reardon (Wal) |
| 75/76 | Ray Reardon (Wal) | 7-3 | Graham Miles (Eng) |
| 76/75 | John Spencer (Eng) | 9-8 | Ray Reardon (Wal) |
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* In both 1975 & 1998 finals, champion were decided by re-spotted black * * In 1991, Stephen Hendry set an impressive cameback from 0-7 down to win 9-8 * * Dennis Taylor also had a great comeback in 1978. He was once 5-8 behind * * Stephen Hendry has six wins in the event. That's more than anyone else. The organizers even gave him the old trophy in 1993 after his fifth consecutive win * | |||
| Odds | List of all |
| 11/4 | John Higgins |
| 10/3 | Stephen Hendry |
| 9/2 | Mark J Williams |
| 6/1 | Ronnie O'Sullivan |
| 12/1 | Matthew Stevens |
| 14/1 | Stephen Lee |
| 16/1 | Ken Doherty |
| 25/1 | Paul Hunter |
| 33/1 | Peter Ebdon |
| 40/1 | Alan McManus |
| 40/1 | Fergal O'Brien |
| 40/1 | John Parrott |
| 50/1 | Mark King |
| 50/1 | Macro Fu |
| 50/1 | Anthony Hamilton |
| 50/1 | Steve Davis |
| 66/1 | Alister Carter |
| 66/1 | Jimmy White |
| Source: William Hill | |