1980 Masters (snooker)

Professional non-ranking snooker tournament, Feb 1980 September 2026 1980 Benson & Hedges Masters 1980 02 5 1980 02 9 y Wembley Conference Centre London England Non-ranking event £14,000 £4,500 Terry Griffiths WAL (131) Terry Griffiths WAL Alex Higgins NIR 9–5 1979 1981 The 1980 Masters (officially the 1980 Benson & Hedges Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place from 5 to 9 February 1980 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England. It was organised by representatives of the sponsors, cigarette brand Benson & Hedges, and sanctioned by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Ten players were invited to participate, including debutants Terry Griffiths and John Virgo. Perrie Mans was the defending champion, having defeated Alex Higgins 8–4 in the 1979 final. Mans failed to retain his title, losing 4–8 to Higgins in the quarter-finals. Griffiths won the title by defeating Higgins 8–5 in the final, after they had been level at 4-4 following the first session. Griffiths made the highest break of the tournament, 131, in the 13th frame of the final to clinch victory. An audience of 2,323 people attended the final session of the match, which was a British record at the time. The tournament carried a total prize fund of £14,000, with £4,500 going to the winner. Matches from 7 February onwards received television coverage on BBC2, and parts of the final were broadcast on BBC1's Grandstand. Overview The 1980 Masters was staged at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, with ten invited players and was the sixth edition of the Masters after its establishment in 1975.Turner Chris The Masters http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/masters.html https://web.archive.org/web/20120107160419/http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/masters.html 7 January 2012 Chris Turner's Snooker Archive 1 March 2011 It was organised by representatives of the sponsors, cigarette brand Benson & Hedges, and sanctioned by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association.Benson and Hedges Masters Snooker Tournament (advertisement) The Evening Standard 15 January 1980 38 https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-standard/205557393/ Newspapers.com Terry Griffiths, the reigning world champion and John Virgo, who had won the 1979 UK Championship were invited to participate in the Masters for the first time.Griffiths can prove point South Wales Argus 9 February 1980 12 https://www.newspapers.com/article/south-wales-argus/205613814/ Newspapers.comVirgo in B&H Masters Belfast Telegraph 8 December 1979 17 https://www.newspapers.com/article/belfast-telegraph/205562413/ Newspapers.comHayton Dee 2004 971 Perrie Mans was the defending champion, having defeated Alex Higgins 8–4 in the 1979 final.Mans goes one better The Sydney Morning Herald 28 January 1979 74 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-sydney-morning-herald/205557228/ Newspapers.com Ray Reardon was the bookmakers' pre-tournament favourite to win, with odds of 7/2, and Griffiths was second-favourite.I'll win Masters – Reardon Belfast Telegraph 5 February 1980 19 https://www.newspapers.com/article/belfast-telegraph/205615207/ Newspapers.com There was daily coverage on BBC2 from 7 February onwards.Preview: Thursday The Guardian 2 February 1980 16 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian/205615803/ Newspapers.com Part of the final was televised as part of Grandstand on BBC1, with commentary by Ted Lowe, Jack Karnehm and John Pulman.Grandstand BBC Programme Index BBC https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/0fb2866a260949a4bd64ab81f3f84af7 8 September 2026 Prize fund The winner's prize was £4,500 from a total prize fund of £14,000. The breakdown of prize money, where known, is shown below. £10,000 would have been awarded to the first player making a maximum break. Winner: £4,500 Runner-up: £2,500 Semi-finals: £1,500 Total: £14,000 Summary First round First round matches were played on 5 and 6 February as the best-of-nine frames. Fred Davis, in his 50th year as a professional player, won the first frame against Alex Higgins.Unlucky 50 for Davis Daily Post Wrexham 7 February 1980 16 https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-post-the-paper-for-wales/205617159/ Newspapers.com Higgins won the second frame, and, after Davis had twice failed to pot the final pink ball pink in frame three, Higgins fluked it and then potted the black ball black for 2–1.Everton Clive Clive Everton Davis falls to Higgins again The Guardian 7 February 1980 22 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian/205617231/ Newspapers.com Higgins advanced to a 4–1 lead. In the sixth frame, he led by 48 points. Davis then made a 50 break, but failed to pot the final black, leaving an easy opportunity that Higgins took to seal a 5–1 win. John Virgo made a 41 break at his first visit to the snooker table table in the opening frame against Cliff Thorburn, and went on to win the frame.Virgo goes out after fine start The Daily Telegraph 6 February 1980 34 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph/205616714/ Newspapers.com The lead changed three times, and eventually Thorburn made the highest break of the match, 71, in the eighth frame to secure a 5–3 win. Quarter-finals thumb|alt=a head and shoulders picture of Alex Higgins|Alex Higgins (pictured in 1988) reached the Masters final for the third consecutive year. The quarter-finals were played from 5 to 7 February as the best-of-nine frames. In a replay of the 1979 final, Higgins faced Perrie Mans.Masterly Higgins through The Daily Telegraph 8 February 1980 30 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph/205617544/ Newspapers.com Mans won the first frame, but Higgins won the next five to reverse the outcome from the previous year. The match report in The Daily Telegraph called it a "blistering victory... that left [the crowd] gasping". Ronnie Harper of Belfast Telegraph said Higgins's performance against Mans "fringed on the unbelievable... a power packed display of potting and cueball control that television audiences have never seen before."Harper Ronnie Keep it up Alex and it's yours! Belfast Telegraph 9 February 1980 15 https://www.newspapers.com/article/belfast-telegraph/205617986/ Newspapers.com Dennis Taylor took a 2–0 lead against Ray Reardon, and led 3–1 at the end of their first session. Reardon had made a break of 59 in the fourth frame which was followed with a 61 by Taylor; after both missed chances to win, Taylor won the frame. Reardon left few chances for Taylor as he took the first four frames of the second session to wrap up a 5–3 win. John Spencer lost the first two frames against Eddie Charlton, but went on to win 5–2.Everton Clive Clive Everton Break-in inspires breaks from Spencer The Guardian 8 February 1980 16 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian/205618144/ Newspapers.com He won the last three frames by a 282–40 point margin, with breaks including 58, 50 and 54. Terry Griffiths beat Thorburn 5–3 after the pair had been all square at 2–2 after their first session, and Thorburn had produced a break of 96 to win the first frame of the second session. Griffiths later described Thorburn as "curiously careless" during the match.Griffiths 1989 93 Thorburn reflected that Griffiths "was playing very well and he had a slow, even pace that he stuck to all the time", while his own play was often "jerky".Thorburn Everton 1987 73 Semi-finals The semi-finals were held on 8 February as the best-of-nine frames across two sessions. Higgins took a 3–1 lead against Reardon in their first session, although Everton thought Higgins's play was "edgy and erratic". After Higgins had added the fifth frame, Reardon made a break of 93 to win frame six. In the seventh frame, Reardon was 15 points ahead with only the last three colours remaining when Higgins fluked potting the blue ball when escaping from a snooker and went on to secure the frame for a 5–2 victory. Griffiths whitewashed Spencer. Everton described his play in the first session as "formidable by any standards".Everton Clive Clive Everton Griffiths storms to final with 100 The Guardian 9 February 1980 24 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian/205613622/ Newspapers.com He completed his win with a break on 100 in the first frame of the second session. After the match, Griffiths commented: "That is the best I have played since winning the world title. But I can still play better." Final thumb|alt=Terry Griffiths playing snooker|Terry Griffiths (pictured in 1991) won the Masters title at his first attempt. The final between Griffiths and Higgins was played on 9 February as the best-of-17 frames across two sessions. John Street was the referee. Higgins was a few minutes late, and said that this was because he had mislaid his bow tie and needed to borrow one.Higgins takes a late bow Evening Sentinel Stoke-on-Trent 9 February 1980 2 https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-sentinel/205613877/ Newspapers.com In his customary manner, he removed the bow tie at the start of the match.Everton Clive Clive Everton Final flourish by Griffiths The Guardian 18 August 1980 15 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian/205614638/ Newspapers.com Griffiths won the first two frames, each following a miss by Higgins: what Everton described as an "easy pink" in the first frame, and a black from its spot in the second frame. A break of 81, completed in just over four minutes, gave Higgins the third frame.Griffiths the master The Daily Telegraph 11 February 1980 21 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-daily-telegraph/205625116/ Newspapers.com Higgins drew level at 2–2 after potting the re-spotted black after the fourth frame ended in a tie.Everton Clive Clive Everton Final flourish by Griffiths The Guardian 11 February 1980 19 https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian/205584779/ Newspapers.com Griffiths moved into a 3–2 lead with a 77 break in frame five. After Higgins capitalised following missed pots by Griffiths in the next two frames to lead 4–3, Griffiths levelled the match at 4–4, taking a 71-point lead and winning the frame 102–25. In the interval between frames, Higgins offered to split the prize money from the final equally.Griffiths 1989 93 Griffiths accepted, reasoning that "In this case, it really did not matter because we both wanted to win."Griffiths 1989 93 In the first frame of the second session, Higgins was 52 ahead when he accidentally potted the brown ball along with the yellow ball that he intended to pot. There were three red ball reds left on the table, which would have meant only 51 points available, but as Griffiths was snookered, he was awarded a free ball and went on to clear the table, winning the frame on the black. In the tenth frame, Griffiths led after making a 58 break, but Higgins responded with a 70 break and took the frame. Griffiths moved into an 8–5 lead after mistakes from Higgins in the next three frames; the 13th frame was won on a re-spotted black. Griffiths compiled a break of 131, the highest of the tournament to win frame fourteen and take the match 9–5. The attendance of 2,323 was a record for a snooker match in Britain. The match report in The Daily Telegraph described the contest as "spellbinding entertainment". Main draw The draw for the tournament is shown below. The match winners are shown in bold.Benson & Hedges Masters https://www.snooker.org/res/index.asp?event=1721 snooker.org 8 September 2026 26 May 2024 https://web.archive.org/web/20240526222419/https://www.snooker.org/res/index.asp?event=1721 live The Masters http://www.snookerscene.co.uk/page.php?id=60 https://web.archive.org/web/20130124071627/http://www.snookerscene.co.uk/page.php?id=60 24 January 2013 Snooker Scene 8 August 2012 180 Round 1Best of 9 frames Quarter-finalsBest of 9 frames Semi-finalsBest of 9 frames FinalBest of 17 frames Fred Davis ENG 1 Alex Higgins NIR 5 Cliff Thorburn CAN 5 John Virgo ENG 3 Perrie Mans RSA 1928 1 Alex Higgins NIR 5 Ray Reardon WAL 5 Dennis Taylor NIR 3 Eddie Charlton AUS 2 John Spencer ENG 5 Terry Griffiths WAL 5 Cliff Thorburn CAN 3 Alex Higgins NIR 5 Ray Reardon WAL 2 John Spencer ENG 0 Terry Griffiths WAL 5 Alex Higgins NIR 5 Terry Griffiths WAL 9 Final: details and frame scores +Final Best of 17 frames. Referee: John StreetWembley Conference Centre, London, England, 9 February 1980.Numbers in parentheses are breaks of 50 or more Terry Griffiths WAL 9–5 Alex Higgins NIR First session: 67–39, 73–30 (73), 4–81 (81), 61–68, 104–15 (77), 61–67 (Griffiths 52), 54–55, 102–25Second session: 63–61 (Griffiths 53), 58–70 (Griffiths 58, Higgins 70), 75–49, 117–3 (51), 67–60, 131–0 (131) 131 Highest break 81 1 Century breaks 0 6 50+ breaks 1 Century breaks The following century breaks were made during the tournament:Everton Clive Masters sets up Griffiths for world title defence Snooker Scene March 1980 3–9 131, 100 Terry Griffiths References Books Griffiths Terry Griff: the Autobiography of Terry Griffiths 1989 Pelham 978-0-7207-1886-7 Hayton Eric Dee John 2004 The CueSport Book of Professional Snooker: The Complete Record & History Rose Villa Publications Lowestoft 978-0-9548549-0-4 Thorburn Cliff Everton Clive Playing for Keeps 1987 Partridge Press Haywards Heath 978-1-85225-011-9 1980 1980 1980 Masters Masters (snooker) Masters (snooker)