1996 Masters (snooker)
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 4–11 February 1996 |
| Venue | Wembley Conference Centre |
| City | London |
| Country | England |
| Organisation(s) | WPBSA |
| Format | Non-ranking event |
| Winner's share | £125,000 |
| Highest break |
 Stephen Hendry (144) |
| Final | |
| Champion |
Stephen Hendry
|
| Runner-up |
 Ronnie O'Sullivan
|
| Score | 10–5 |
|
← 1995
1997 →
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The 1996 Benson & Hedges Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 4 and 11 February 1996 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England. The last 16 and quarter-final rounds were extended from 9 to 11 frames while the final was extended from 17 to 19 frames.
Stephen Hendry won his sixth Masters title by defeating defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–5 in the final. Hendry won £125,000 and £10,000 for the highest break of the tournament (144). During his quarter-final match Hendry also set the record of scoring 487 points without reply against Jimmy White.
Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was the number 1 seed with World Champion Stephen Hendry 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, Matthew Stevens (ranked 236), and Andy Hicks (ranked 17), who was the wild-card selection. Dave Harold, Andy Hicks and Matthew Stevens were making their debuts in the Masters.
In the preliminary round, the qualifier and wild-card players played the 15th and 16th seeds:
Matthew Stevens won the qualifying tournament, known as the 1995 Benson & Hedges Championship at the time.
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