 |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 27 January – 1 February 1981 |
| 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 a new British tournament record of 2,422 for the final session.