- Masters Qualifying Event
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Masters Qualifying Event Tournament information Venue World Snooker Centre Location Prestatyn Country Wales Established 1990 Organisation(s) World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association Format Non-ranking event Final Year 2009 Final champion(s) Rory McLeod
The Benson & Hedges Championship was a professional snooker tournament, which ran from 1990 to 2002. Each season, the winner of the Benson & Hedges Championship was awarded a wildcard to play at the Benson & Hedges Masters.
In the 1992/1993 season, it was a minor ranking event, earning one-tenth of the ranking points of other tournaments. This was designed to encourage the large number of new professionals, but most of the top players did not enter, so it lost ranking status.
The Masters Qualifying Event replaced the Benson & Hedges Championship in the 2003/04 season, with the winner being awarded a wildcard to play in The Masters. After a season away, the Masters Qualifying Event returned to the calendar in 2005/06, but was not included in the 2010/11 season.
Winners
Year Winner Opponent Final score Season Benson & Hedges Championship (Non-ranking) 1990 Alan McManus
James Wattana
9–5 1990/91 1991 Ken Doherty
Darren Morgan
9–3 1991/92 Benson & Hedges Championship (Minor-ranking) 1992 Chris Small
Alan McManus
9–1 1992/93 Benson & Hedges Championship (Non-ranking) 1993 Ronnie O'Sullivan
John Lardner
9–6 1993/94 1994 Mark Williams
Rod Lawler
9–5 1994/95 1995 Matthew Stevens
Paul McPhillips
9–3 1995/96 1996 Brian Morgan
Drew Henry
9–8 1996/97 1997 Andy Hicks
Paul Davies
9–6 1997/98 1998 David Gray
Dave Harold
9–6 1998/99 1999 Allister Carter
Simon Bedford
9–4 1999/00 2000 Shaun Murphy
Stuart Bingham
9–7 2000/01 2001 Ryan Day
Hugh Abernethy
9–5 2001/02 2002 Mark Davis
Mehmet Husnu
9–6 2002/03 Masters Qualifying Event (Non-ranking) 2003 Neil Robertson
Dominic Dale
6–5 2003/04 2005 Stuart Bingham
Allister Carter
6–3 2005/06 2006 Stuart Bingham
Mark Selby
6–2 2006/07 2007 Barry Hawkins
Kurt Maflin
6–4 2007/08 2008 Judd Trump
Mark Joyce
6–1 2008/09 2009 Rory McLeod
Andrew Higginson
6–1 2009/10 References
Snooker tournaments Ranking World Championship · UK Championship · World Open · Welsh Open · German Masters · China Open · Shanghai Masters · Australian Goldfields Open · Players Tour Championship (Paul Hunter Classic)Non-ranking The Masters · World Cup · Championship League · Wuxi Classic · Beijing International Challenge · Lucan Racing Classic · World Seniors Championship · Scottish Professional Championship · Hainan Classic · Brazil Masters · General Cup InternationalCategories:- Snooker ranking tournaments
- Snooker non-ranking competitions
- Masters (snooker)
- Snooker competitions in the United Kingdom
- Recurring events established in 1990
- Recurring events disestablished in 2009
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