The 1996 Benson and Hedges Masters

Masters (snooker)

The Masters is a professional snooker tournament and the second longest running tournament outside the World Championship. Although not a ranking event, it is regarded as one of the most prestigious tournaments on the circuit, earning the second biggest prize money.-History:The tournament was held...

professional non-ranking

Snooker world rankings

The snooker world rankings are the official system of ranking professional snooker players to determine automatic qualification and seeding for tournaments on the World Snooker Tour. They are maintained by the sport's governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association...

 snooker

Snooker

Snooker is a cue sport that is played on a green baize-covered table with pockets in each of the four corners and in the middle of each of the long side cushions. A regular table is . It is played using a cue and snooker balls: one white , 15 worth one point each, and six balls of different :...

 tournament took place between 4 and 11 February 1996 at the Wembley Conference Centre

Wembley Conference Centre

Wembley Conference Centre was a conference centre near Wembley Stadium, Wembley, in London, England.-History:Opened in 1977, it was the first purpose built Conference Centre in the UK. Events included conferences, corporate hospitality, annual general meetings, banquets and sports events including...

, London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

Stephen Hendry

Stephen Hendry

Stephen Gordon Hendry, MBE is a Scottish professional snooker player. In 1990, he was the youngest-ever snooker World Champion, at the age of 21. He has won the World Championship a record seven times and was snooker's world number one for eight consecutive years between 1990 and 1998, and again...

 won his sixth Masters title, by beating defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronnie O'Sullivan

Ronald Antonio "Ronnie" O'Sullivan , is an English professional snooker player known for his rapid playing style and nicknamed "The Rocket". He has been World Champion on three occasions , and is second on the all-time prize-money list, with career earnings of over £6 million, behind only Stephen...

 10-5 in the final. Hendry won £125,000 and £15,000 for the highest break of the tournament (144)

Wild card round

In the preliminary round, the qualifier and wildcard players played the 15th and 16th seeds:

Match		Score
WC1	Terry Griffiths Terry Griffiths Terrence "Terry" Griffiths OBE is a retired Welsh snooker player and current snooker coach and pundit. He won the World Championship in 1979 at the first attempt, and reached the 1988 final. He also won the Masters in 1980 and the UK Championship in 1982, making him one of seven players to have...	2–5	Matthew Stevens Matthew Stevens Matthew Stevens is a Welsh professional snooker player. Stevens has won two of the game's most prestigious events, the Benson and Hedges Masters in 2000 and the UK Championship in 2003. He has also been the runner-up in the World Snooker Championship on two occasions, in 2000 and 2005...
WC2	David Roe David Roe David Roe is a former English professional snooker player, and a four-time ranking tournament quarter-finalist.Roe began his professional career for the 1986/1987 season...	2–5	Andy Hicks Andy Hicks Andy Hicks is an English professional snooker player currently from Cornwall. Hicks, nicknamed "The Cream of Devon", has been a World Snooker Championship semi-finalist and was ranked within the worlds top 32 for many seasons but has never broken into the top 16.-Career:Although a professional...

Main draw