1989 Masters (snooker)

The 1989 Masters (officially the 1989 Benson & Hedges Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 22 and 29 January 1989 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England. The prize money for the highest break was £6,000. The top 16 players were invited for the tournament.

1989 Benson & Hedges Masters

Tournament information
Dates	22–29 January 1989 (1989-01-22 – 1989-01-29)
Venue	Wembley Conference Centre
City	London
Country	England
Organisation	WPBSA
Format	Non-ranking event
Total prize fund	£250,000
Winner's share	£62,000
Highest break	Stephen Hendry (SCO) (119)
Final
Champion	Stephen Hendry (SCO)
Runner-up	John Parrott (ENG)
Score	9–6
← 1988 1990 →

Stephen Hendry won the Masters at his first attempt after joining the top 16 by defeating John Parrott 9–6 in the final. This was Hendry's first of his five consecutive Masters titles.

The tournament was rocked by a scandal after the first round match between Silvino Francisco and Terry Griffiths on 23 January. After Griffiths beat Francisco 5–1, it was discovered that there had been heavy betting on that exact score. Both players were questioned.^[1][2] Francisco was arrested exactly a year later concerning the 1989 Masters and the 1986 Masters, where he lost 5–1 in the first round to Tony Knowles.^[3] In May 1990 he was cleared of involvement in the alleged betting coups.^[4]

Field

Steve Davis, defending champion and World Champion was the number 1 seed. The remaining places were allocated to players based on the world rankings. Peter Francisco, Stephen Hendry and Cliff Wilson were making their debuts in the Masters.

Main draw

^[5][6]

	Last 16 Best of 9 frames					Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames					Semi-finals Best of 11 frames					Final Best of 17 frames
	1	Steve Davis (ENG)	5
	16	Cliff Wilson (WAL)	2
						1	Steve Davis	5
						8	Tony Knowles	0
	8	Tony Knowles (ENG)	5
	9	Mike Hallett (ENG)	3
											1	Steve Davis	3
											4	Stephen Hendry	6
	5	Terry Griffiths (WAL)	5
	12	Silvino Francisco (RSA)	1
						5	Terry Griffiths	3
						4	Stephen Hendry	5
	4	Stephen Hendry (SCO)	5
	13	Willie Thorne (ENG)	2
																4	Stephen Hendry	9
																7	John Parrott	6
	3	Neal Foulds (ENG)	5
	14	Peter Francisco (RSA)	2
						3	Neal Foulds	5
						6	Cliff Thorburn	2
	6	Cliff Thorburn (CAN)	5
	11	Joe Johnson (ENG)	2
											3	Neal Foulds	5
											7	John Parrott	6
	7	John Parrott (ENG)	5
	10	Dennis Taylor (NIR)	1
						7	John Parrott	5
						2	Jimmy White	4
	2	Jimmy White (ENG)	5
	15	John Virgo (ENG)	2

Final

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: John Street Wembley Conference Centre, London, England, 29 January 1989.
Stephen Hendry   Scotland	9–6	John Parrott   England
First session: 16–97 (93), 58–31, 93–8 (89), 83–39 (62), 36–85 (61), 98–0 (59), 73–4 (61), 30–74 (50), 42–72, 86–44, 85–34 (58), 66–68, 84–38 (64), 8–79, 65–48 (52)
89	Highest break	93
0	Century breaks	0
7	50+ breaks	3

Century breaks

Highest break; £6,000, Total: 3^[7]

• 119, 114 – Stephen Hendry
• 102 – Steve Davis

References

1. "Gambling enquiry in snooker". The Times. 25 January 1989. p. 42.
2. "Police look at betting". The Times. 25 February 1989. p. 49.
3. "Francisco arrested by police". The Times. 24 January 1990. p. 44.
4. "Francisco cleared of alleged betting coup". The Times. 19 May 1990. p. 48.
5. . Snooker Database. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
6. . Snooker Scene. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2012.
7. "1989 Masters". CueTracker – Snooker Results and Statistics Database. Retrieved 19 January 2015.