1987 Australian Masters

Australian Masters
Tournament information
Dates29 June – 8 July 1987 (1987-06-29 – 1987-07-08)
VenueNorth Sydney Anzac Memorial Club
CitySydney
CountryAustralia
OrganisationWPBSA
FormatNon-ranking event
Total prize fund$200,000
Winner's share$50,000
Highest break Alex Higgins (NIR) 115
Final
Champion Stephen Hendry (SCO)
Runner-up Mike Hallett (ENG)
Score371–226 points
← 1986
1989 →

The 1987 Winfield Australian Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 29 June and 8 July 1987 at the North Sydney Anzac Memorial Club in Sydney, Australia.[1][2] Stephen Hendry won the tournament by defeating Mike Hallett 371–226 in the final.[3] All matches were decided on the aggregate score over five frames.[4]

The defending champion was Dennis Taylor,[5] who did not participate in the 1987 event as the players managed by Barry Hearn were withdrawn from the event because of a dispute with promoter Eddie Charlton over air fares.[3] The withdrawn players, who were Taylor, Steve Davis, Jimmy White, Willie Thorne, Terry Griffiths, Neal Foulds and Tony Meo, were replaced by Hendry, Dene O'Kane, Dean Reynolds, Mike Hallett, Eugene Hughes, Alex Higgins and John Parrott. Four places were given to specific Australian players. Paddy Morgan and Glen Wilkinson won places at the event by qualifying from an elimination tournament consisting of the Australian professional players other than the four who were given automatic places.[4]

Following a first round win over John Campbell, Hendry defeated top seed Thorburn in the quarter-finals, and Higgins in the semi-final. In the other half of the draw, Hallett beat Hughes in the first round, then having led Johnson by 86 going into the last of their five frames, won that match by seven points. In the final, Hendry scored higher than Hallett in four of the five frames played, and won 371–226.[1][6] Higgins scored the highest break of the tournament, 115,[6] in his match against John Parrott.[1]

  1. ^ a b c Hendry, Stephen (August 1987). "How I mastered Higgins and co". Pot Black. Westcliff-on-Sea: Pot Black Publishing. pp. 10–11.
  2. ^ Wheeler, Les (22 June 1987). "King scores 147 in warm-up". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. p. 51.
  3. ^ a b Terry Smith, ed. (1987). Benson and Hedges Snooker Year (Fourth Edition). Aylesbury: Pelham Books. p. 92. ISBN 0720717973.
  4. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference WHEELER was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Australian Events". Chris Turner's Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 2012-01-07. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference PBLACK2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).