Peter Lines has won the 2017 World Seniors Championship after a 4-0 victory over John Parrott at the Bath Halls in Scunthorpe.
Lines, one of the qualifiers from the four preliminary tournaments staged before this week, was the pre-tournament favourite with many bookies and fans alike, and duly delivered to pocket the £10,000 winner’s cheque.
The 47 year-old didn’t lose a frame in the tournament, beating three world champions en route to his success on Friday.
In the semi-finals Lines came up against the seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry, whom much was expected of but ultimately failed to deliver on his competitive comeback.
A 3-0 triumph sent Lines into the final against Parrott, who had earlier potted a tremendous black to scrape past Jonathan Bagley 3-2, and the father of current pro Oliver romped to a comprehensive 4-0 win to lift the biggest trophy of his career.
Of course, the huge added bonus of the victory is an invitation for Lines into the World Championship qualifying rounds, where three further wins would see him reach the Crucible in Sheffield in three weeks time.
Overall, the World Seniors was a pretty successful three-day event which was confirmed in becoming a permanent fixture on the calendar with a renewal for the Bath Halls to stage next year’s edition.
There were a few teething problems with the streaming while the in-venue commentary was somewhat grating for onlookers who weren’t inside the arena, but in general Jason Francis from Snooker Legends has done a solid job of promoting this event, turning the premise into something which it always should have been – a celebration of elder competitors who aren’t currently on the Main Tour.
For Lines, he’ll have an opportunity now to go and challenge the professionals he recently competed regularly alongside and, of course, only a few months ago he beat Neil Robertson en route to a last 32 appearance in the UK Championship in York.
What damage he can do in Sheffield remains to be seen, but there’ll be few in the qualifying draw who’ll be wanting to be paired with Lines – the new Seniors King.
