2006 Masters (snooker)

The 2006 Masters (officially the 2006 SAGA Insurance Masters) was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that took place from 15 to 22 January 2006 at the Wembley Conference Centre in London, England. It was the 32nd edition of the tournament, and the last time that the tournament was held at this venue. The tournament was part of the 2005/2006 season.

2006 SAGA Insurance Masters

Tournament information
Dates	15–22 January 2006 (2006-01-15 – 2006-01-22)
Venue	Wembley Conference Centre
City	London
Country	England
Organisation	WPBSA
Format	Non-ranking event
Winner's share	£125,000
Highest break	Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG) (139)
Final
Champion	John Higgins (SCO)
Runner-up	Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)
Score	10–9
← 2005 2007 →

John Higgins won his 2nd Masters title by defeating defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan 10–9 in a reverse of last year's final.

Field

Defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was the number 1 seed with World Champion Shaun Murphy seeded 2. Places were allocated to the leading players in the world rankings. With Murphy having a ranking of 21, Ian McCulloch, ranked 16, was not an automatic invitation. Players seeded 15 and 16 played in the wild-card round against the winner of the qualifying event, Stuart Bingham (ranked 37), and McCulloch, who was the wild-card selection. Stuart Bingham and Ian McCulloch were making their debuts in the Masters.

Prize fund

The breakdown of prize money for this year is shown below:^[1]

Qualifying stage

• Winner: £2,000
• Runner-up: £680
• Semi-final: £250
• Quarter-final: £105
• Total: £3,600

Televised stage

Winner: £125,000 Runner Up: £60,000 Semi-final: £30,000 Quarter-final: £15,000 Last 16: £10,000 Last 18 (seeded): £10,000 Last 18 (wild-cards): £2,000

Highest break: £10,000 Maximum break: £25,000

Wild-card round

In the preliminary "wild-card round", the two wild-card players were drawn against the players seeded 15th and 16th:^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Match	Date		Score
WC1	Sunday 15 January	Joe Perry (ENG) (15)	3–6	Ian McCulloch (ENG)
WC2	Sunday 15 January	Steve Davis (ENG) (16)	4–6	Stuart Bingham (ENG)

Main draw

^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

	Last 16 Best of 11 frames					Quarter-finals Best of 11 frames					Semi-finals Best of 11 frames					Final Best of 19 frames
	1	Ronnie O'Sullivan (ENG)	6
		Ian McCulloch (ENG)	0
						1	Ronnie O'Sullivan	6
						8	Peter Ebdon	2
	8	Peter Ebdon (ENG)	6
		Stuart Bingham (ENG)	4
											1	Ronnie O'Sullivan	6
											11	Stephen Lee	5
	5	Matthew Stevens (WAL)	3
	14	Graeme Dott (SCO)	6
						14	Graeme Dott	5
						11	Stephen Lee	6
	4	Stephen Maguire (SCO)	0
	11	Stephen Lee (ENG)	6
																1	Ronnie O'Sullivan	9
																7	John Higgins	10
	3	Stephen Hendry (SCO)	4
	13	Alan McManus (SCO)	6
						13	Alan McManus	6
						10	Mark Williams	4
	6	Paul Hunter (ENG)	3
	10	Mark Williams (WAL)	6
											13	Alan McManus	2
											7	John Higgins	6
	7	John Higgins (SCO)	6
	9	Jimmy White (ENG)	3
						7	John Higgins	6
						2	Shaun Murphy	4
	2	Shaun Murphy (ENG)	6
	12	Ken Doherty (IRL)	5

Final

Final: Best of 19 frames. Referee: Eirian Williams Wembley Conference Centre, London, England, 22 January 2006.[2][4]
Ronnie O'Sullivan (1)  England	9–10	John Higgins (7)  Scotland
Afternoon: 60–48, 139–0 (139), 138–0 (138), 0–73 (73), 0–80 (80), 20–48, 27–66, 0–71 Evening: 91–44 (91), 100–30 (56), 0–81 (81), 6–86 (68), 72–46, 100–5 (100), 1–71 (62), 62–53, 65–5 (58), 1–83, 60–64 (60, 64)
139	Highest break	80
3	Century breaks	0
7	50+ breaks	6

Qualifying

The 2005 Masters Qualifying Event was held between 20 and 23 November 2005 at Pontin's in Prestatyn, Wales. The winner who qualified for the tournament, was Stuart Bingham.^[7][8]

	Last 48 Best of 7 frames					Last 32 Best of 9 frames					Last 16 Best of 9 frames					Quarter-finals Best of 9 frames					Semi-finals Best of 9 frames					Final Best of 11 frames
						Anthony Hamilton		3
	Rory McLeod		4			Rory McLeod		5
											Rory McLeod		5
	Joe Jogia		3
											Tony Drago		3
						Tony Drago		5
	James Tatton		1			Simon Bedford		1
																Rory McLeod		5
	Simon Bedford		4
																Barry Hawkins		3
						Barry Hawkins		5
	Matthew Couch		1			Andrew Norman		2
											Barry Hawkins		5
	Andrew Norman		4
											Patrick Wallace		1
						Robert Milkins		w/d
	Patrick Wallace		4			Patrick Wallace		w/o
																					Rory McLeod		4
	Rod Lawler		2
																					Stuart Bingham		5
						Nigel Bond		4
	Marcus Campbell		4			Marcus Campbell		5
											Marcus Campbell		5
	Gary Wilson		0
											Michael Judge		3
						Gerard Greene		0
	Michael Judge		w/o			Michael Judge		5
																Marcus Campbell		0
	Adam Davies		w/d
																Stuart Bingham		5
						Stuart Bingham		5
	Ricky Walden		3			David Roe		2
											Stuart Bingham		5
	David Roe		4
											Robin Hull		3
						David Gray		2
	Robin Hull		4			Robin Hull		5
																										Stuart Bingham		6
	Mark Allen		1
																										Ali Carter		3
						Ali Carter		5
	Justin Astley		w/o			Justin Astley		2
											Ali Carter		5
	James McBain		w/d
											Ryan Day		2
						Ryan Day		5
	Chris Norbury		2			Alfie Burden		3
																Ali Carter		5
	Alfie Burden		4
																Fergal O'Brien		4
						Neil Robertson		2
	Fergal O'Brien		w/o			Fergal O'Brien		5
											Fergal O'Brien		5
	Brian Morgan		w/d
											Lee Spick		2
						Marco Fu		2
	Lee Spick		w/o			Lee Spick		5
																					Ali Carter		5
	Sean Storey		w/d
																					Joe Swail		3
						Michael Holt		5
	Dave Harold		2			Judd Trump		2
											Michael Holt		2
	Judd Trump		4
											Joe Swail		5
						Mark Selby		2
	Joe Swail		4			Joe Swail		5
																Joe Swail		5
	Stuart Mann		0
																Ding Junhui		4
						John Parrott		0
	Jamie Cope		4			Jamie Cope		5
											Jamie Cope		1
	Leo Fernandez		2
											Ding Junhui		5
						Barry Pinches		2
	Tom Ford		3			Ding Junhui		5
	Ding Junhui		4

Century breaks

Televised stage centuries

Total: 11^[4]

• 139, 138, 100 – Ronnie O'Sullivan
• 138, 100 – Peter Ebdon
• 116, 102 – Graeme Dott
• 115, 101 – Shaun Murphy
• 110 – John Higgins
• 101 – Stephen Lee

Qualifying stage centuries

^[7]

147, 114, 109, 101 – Stuart Bingham 140, 106, 100 – Fergal O'Brien 132, 120, 116, 116 – Ding Junhui 132, 106, 101 – Barry Hawkins 130, 100 – Ryan Day 127, 105 – Judd Trump 127 – Jamie Cope 125, 117, 114, 111 – Robin Hull

125, 102, 101 – Joe Swail 122 – Michael Judge 120 – Ricky Walden 114 – Patrick Wallace 112, 100 – Alfie Burden 111 – James Tatton 110 – Lee Spick 107 – Ali Carter