1981 Masters (snooker)

Benson & Hedges Masters

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 (136)
Final
Champion	Alex Higgins
Runner-up	Terry Griffiths
Score	9–6
← 1980 1982 →

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.

Main draw

	Round 1 Best of 9 frames					Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames					Semi-finals Best of 11 frames					Final Best of 17 frames
						Terry Griffiths		5
	Fred Davis		5			Fred Davis		2
	Kirk Stevens		4								Terry Griffiths		6
											John Spencer		5
						Ray Reardon		1
	Dennis Taylor		2			John Spencer		5
	John Spencer		5													Terry Griffiths		6
																Alex Higgins		9
						Alex Higgins		5
	Eddie Charlton		0			Doug Mountjoy		1
	Doug Mountjoy		5								Alex Higgins		6
											Cliff Thorburn		5
						Cliff Thorburn		5
	Perrie Mans		5			Perrie Mans		4
	Steve Davis		3

Final

Final: Best of 17 frames. Referee: John Smyth Wembley Conference Centre, London, England, 1 February 1981.
Alex Higgins Northern Ireland	9–6	Terry Griffiths Wales
First session: 117–10 (75), 38–69, 54–64, 62–47, 99–38, 58–31, 20–69, 69–10, 77–37, 75–39, 113–5, 0–136 (136), 31–97, 51–62, 85–48
75	Highest break	136
0	Century breaks	1
1	50+ breaks	1

Century breaks

Total: 2

• 136 Terry Griffiths
• 102 Cliff Thorburn