# 1990 Masters (snooker)

The 1990 Masters (officially the 1990 Benson & Hedges Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 4 and 11 February 1990 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England.
Wild-card players were introduced, and the two places went to Alex Higgins and the young new professional from Thailand, James Wattana. Wattana who won his match against Dean Reynolds and played the six-times world champion Steve Davis in the next round. Higgins meanwhile lost his match against Steve James, who had won the Classic in January. This was his last appearance in the Masters.
The final meanwhile had Stephen Hendry winning his second Masters title and becoming the second player after Cliff Thorburn to retain the title by defeating John Parrott 9–4 in the final. Hendry attempted a maximum break in the 11th frame before missing the 13th black. The highest break of the tournament was 111 made by both Stephen Hendry and Steve Davis, for which they both earned £3,500.

## Field

Defending champion Stephen Hendry was the number 1 seed with World Champion Steve Davis 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 wild-card selections, Alex Higgins (ranked 24), and James Wattana. Steve James and James Wattana were making their debuts in the Masters.

## Wild-card round

| Match | Date | | Score | |
| WC1 | Monday 5 February | Dean Reynolds (ENG) (15) | 4–5 | James Wattana (THA) |
| WC2 | Sunday 4 February | Steve James (ENG) (16) | 5–2 | Alex Higgins (NIR) |

## Main draw

| Last 16 Best of 9 frames | Last 16 Best of 9 frames | Last 16 Best of 9 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames | Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames | Semi-finals Best of 11 frames | | Final Best of 17 frames | Final Best of 17 frames | Final Best of 17 frames |
| 1 | Stephen Hendry (SCO) | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | Steve James (ENG) | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 16 | Steve James (ENG) | 2 | 1 | Stephen Hendry | 5 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 9 | Willie Thorne | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 8 | Dennis Taylor (NIR) | 4 | 9 | Willie Thorne | 1 | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Willie Thorne (ENG) | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 9 | Willie Thorne (ENG) | 5 | | | | 1 | Stephen Hendry | 6 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 4 | Jimmy White | 4 | | | | |
| 5 | Terry Griffiths (WAL) | 4 | | | | | | | 4 | Jimmy White | 4 | | | | |
| 12 | Tony Knowles (ENG) | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 12 | Tony Knowles (ENG) | 5 | 12 | Tony Knowles | 3 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 4 | Jimmy White | 5 | | | | | | | |
| 4 | Jimmy White (ENG) | 5 | 4 | Jimmy White | 5 | | | | | | | |
| 13 | John Virgo (ENG) | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 13 | John Virgo (ENG) | 3 | | | | | | | | 1 | Stephen Hendry | 9 |
| | | | | | | | | | | 3 | John Parrott | 4 |
| 3 | John Parrott (ENG) | 5 | | | | | | | | | | | 3 | John Parrott | 4 |
| 14 | Tony Meo (ENG) | 3 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 14 | Tony Meo (ENG) | 3 | 3 | John Parrott | 5 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 11 | Joe Johnson | 3 | | | | | | | |
| 6 | Mike Hallett (ENG) | 4 | 11 | Joe Johnson | 3 | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Joe Johnson (ENG) | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 11 | Joe Johnson (ENG) | 5 | | | | 3 | John Parrott | 6 | | | | |
| | | | | | | 2 | Steve Davis | 2 | | | | |
| 7 | Cliff Thorburn (CAN) | 4 | | | | | | | 2 | Steve Davis | 2 | | | | |
| 10 | Doug Mountjoy (WAL) | 5 | | | | | | | | | | |
| 10 | Doug Mountjoy (WAL) | 5 | 10 | Doug Mountjoy | 0 | | | | | | | |
| | | | 2 | Steve Davis | 5 | | | | | | | |
| 2 | Steve Davis (ENG) | 5 | 2 | Steve Davis | 5 | | | | | | | |
| | James Wattana (THA) | 2 | | | | | | | | | | |

## Final

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: Alan Chamberlain Wembley Conference Centre, London, England, 11 February 1990. :
| Stephen Hendry Scotland | 9–4 | John Parrott England |
| First session: 79–42 (69), 70–18, 84–23 (69), 40–90 (85), 63–64, 43–75 (68), 77–0, 81–30, 20–75, 65–30 (51), 68–38, 97–0 (97), 56–46 |||
| 97 | Highest break | 85 |
| 0 | Century breaks | 0 |
| 4 | 50+ breaks | 2 |

## Century breaks

Total: 3
* 111 – Stephen Hendry
* 111 – Steve Davis
* 103 – Jimmy White