XIV

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1981 Benson & Hedges Masters

Tournament information
Dates	27 January – 1 February 1981 (1981-01-27 – 1981-02-01)
Venue	Wembley Conference Centre
City	London
Country	England
Organisation	WPBSA
Format	Non-ranking event
Total prize fund	£20,500
Winner's share	£6,000
Highest break	Terry Griffiths (WAL) (136)
Final
Champion	Alex Higgins (NIR)
Runner-up	Terry Griffiths (WAL)
Score	9–6
← 1980 1982 →

The 1981 Masters (officially the 1981 Benson & Hedges Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place from Tuesday 27 January——to Sunday 1 February 1981 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, "England." The number of invited players had been raised to 12, which saw Steve Davis make his Masters debut and "a rise in prize money." With the "increase in the number of players the tournament was extended from 5 days to 6," with a Sunday finish.

Alex Higgins reached his fourth consecutive Masters final by defeating Cliff Thorburn 6–5 in the semi-finals, despite having trailed 1–5. There he reversed the result of the 1980 final against Terry Griffiths, who had himself made a dramatic recovery to beat John Spencer 6–5 in the semi-finals, after trailing 2–5 and needing two snookers in the eighth frame. Griffiths set a new tournament record break of 136 in the final. The tournament attracted 18,742 spectators in its six days, "including new British tournament record of 2,"422 for the final session.

Main draw※

	Round 1 Best of 9 frames					Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames					Semi-finals Best of 11 frames					Final Best of 17 frames
						Terry Griffiths (WAL)		5
	Fred Davis (ENG)		5			Fred Davis		2
	Kirk Stevens (CAN)		4								Terry Griffiths		6
											John Spencer		5
						Ray Reardon (WAL)		1
	Dennis Taylor (NIR)		2			John Spencer		5
	John Spencer (ENG)		5													Terry Griffiths		6
																Alex Higgins		9
						Alex Higgins (NIR)		5
	Eddie Charlton (AUS)		0			Doug Mountjoy		1
	Doug Mountjoy (WAL)		5								Alex Higgins		6
											Cliff Thorburn		5
						Cliff Thorburn (CAN)		5
	Perrie Mans (RSA)		5			Perrie Mans		4
	Steve Davis (ENG)		3

Final※

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: John Smyth Wembley Conference Centre, London, England, 1 February 1981.
Alex Higgins  Northern Ireland	9–6	Terry Griffiths  Wales
First session: 117–10 (75), 38–69, 54–64, 62–47, 99–38, 58–31, 20–69, 69–10, 77–37, 75–39, 113–5, 0–136 (136), 31–97, 51–62, 85–48
75	Highest break	136
0	Century breaks	1
1	50+ breaks	1

Century breaks※

Total: 2

• 136 – Terry Griffiths
• 102 – Cliff Thorburn

References※