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2004 Masters (snooker)

Masters
Tournament information
Dates 1–8 February 2004
Venue Wembley Conference Centre
City London
Country England
Organisation(s) WPBSA
Format Non-ranking event
Winner's share £100,000
Highest break England Ronnie O'Sullivan (138)
Final
Champion England Paul Hunter
Runner-up England Ronnie O'Sullivan
Score 10–9
2003
2005

The 2004 Masters was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place between 1–8 February 2004 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England.

At the start of the competition 16-year-old Chinese Ding Junhui caused a stir by defeating Joe Perry 6–3 on his television début. He then faced Stephen Lee in the next round, but lost 5–6 despite leading 5–2.

Paul Hunter went on to win his third title in four years by defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–9. Hunter trailed O'Sullivan throughout the entire match, before pipping him to the trophy in the final frame. In fact, Hunter trailed 1–6, 2–7, 6–8 and 7–9 before reeling off the final three frames to seal the sixth title of his professional career.

This was the first Masters not to be sponsored by Benson and Hedges, who had sponsored the tournament since it started in 1975, after the ban on tobacco advertising came into effect in summer 2003. This year's competition was unsponsored.

Mark Williams, the defending champion and World Champion was the number 1 seed. Places were allocated to the top 16 players in the world rankings. Players seeded 15 and 16 played in the wild-card round against the winner of the qualifying event, Neil Robertson, and Ding Junhui, who was the wild-card selection. Neil Robertson and Ding Junhui were making their debuts in the Masters.


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