There’s quite a lot of snooker taking place over the next few days but a significant amount of attention is likely to fall on this year’s World Seniors Snooker Championship in Sheffield.
The blue riband tournament on the World Seniors Tour (WST) will see a total of 20 contenders compete at the spiritual home of the game – the Crucible Theatre.
It was quite a coup for Jason Francis and everyone involved at the WST in penning the deal to bring the competition to Sheffield, where the Main Tour’s World Championship has been memorably staged since 1977.
Elevating the World Seniors Snooker Championship to the next level, their efforts have been reflected with a bigger field, a longer format, and a top prize of £25,000 for the winner.
Aaron Canavan is the defending champion after the unheralded competitor from Jersey edged Patrick Wallace in last year’s title decider.
Canavan takes on Au Chi-wai of Hong Kong in the last 16, a round like every other up until the final that will be played over the best of five frames.
With either Leo Fernandez or Joris Maas potentially waiting in the last eight, Canavan will be fancying his chances of a repeat run to the business end of proceedings.
The favourite for glory is on the other side of the draw with 2010 champion Jimmy White facing Rhydian Richards.
The “Whirlwind” famously lost in six Crucible finals and will be looking to break the hoodoo as he bids for a record-breaking fifth WST title.
Interestingly, Stephen Hendry, so often the bane of White’s career after denying the latter in four World Championship finals, is on the opposite side of draw – meaning a mouthwatering repeat showdown could be on the cards.
That said, Hendry has failed to seriously threaten in WST events and there probably aren’t too many people tipping the Scot for success this week.
If you think you can pick the winner of the World Seniors Championship, check the available bookies to bet on snooker on this site.
Snooker on @freesat_tv ch 252 next week Thursday to Sunday live from @crucibletheatre Sheffield pic.twitter.com/qJIUoAcYKd
— ROKiT World Seniors Snooker (@WorldSeniors) August 9, 2019
The last 16 is also guaranteed to feature the likes of former world champions Dennis Taylor, John Parrott, Cliff Thorburn, and recent World Seniors Masters champion Joe Johnson.
Before all that, a preliminary first round will take place on the opening day of action on Thursday, with a couple of humdinger ties to look forward to.
Pick of the lot is arguably the ever popular Willie Thorne’s encounter with Darren Morgan, in what is a battle of the BBC Wales commentating team.
Another intriguing fixture sees blast from the past Dene O’Kane from New Zealand entertain Tony Drago.
Former World Championship semi-finalists James Wattana and Tony Knowles meet Mohammed Abdel Kader and Chen Gang respectively.
Live coverage of the 2019 World Seniors Snooker Championship will be available to watch for free around the world.
For fans in Ireland and the UK, Free Sports will broadcast the tournament from start to finish while supporters everyone else can follow the action via Facebook.
How does one qualify on the senior tour?
Anyone who is an amateur over the age of 40 can play on the World Seniors Tour. Most tournaments will consist of invited “legends” and former champions, with the remaining spots given to qualifiers from qualifying tournaments that are held around the world. Any player can enter these qualifying events.
More information is here: https://www.wpbsa.com/play/world-seniors-snooker-tour/
I follow your writing religiously and appreciate your knowledge and dedication to a sport. I was an auto racing book publisher for 30 years (I owned the Indianapolis 500 Yearbook) so I’m familiar with dedicated souls such as yourself. I’ll look for the qualifying tournaments just to keep up. Thanks again. I’d like to read about some of the snooker leagues in the UK as there just has to be some real talent out there that hasn’t or won’t turn pro. I’m surprised there isn’t a popular site, or maybe there is, that encapsulates the league scene. It could help attract advertisers.
Thanks, Carl. Much appreciated and I’m glad you enjoy the content on SHQ.
You might also be interested in https://snookerhub.co.uk/, which can be a good source of information for events outside the Main Tour.
Its an invitational event.
Thanks so much, the fine reporting done does not say it is an invitational so new fans don’t have the knowledge you old timers do. Thus I am still befuddled as to how the entire senior’s tour/tournaments work specifically. I can see which events are held and where but a it more explanation would sure help newer fans.