Igor Figueiredo beat Ken Doherty by 5-2 to be crowned “2024 World Seniors Snooker Champion”.
Congratulations Igor!
Here are the frames score: 1-109(100); 77(72)-14; 89-26; 93(93)-0; 74-44; 33-110(50, 56); 117(88)-0
As you can see, it was Ken who got off to the better start, knoking in a century to lead 1-0. But Igor, who has played the better snooker and scored heavily all week, got over the early nerves and won the next three, with breaks of 72 and 93, to lead 3-1 at the MSI. When they return, Igor won a rather scrappy frame – the only of the match – to put himself just one off victory. Ken wasn’t going to lay down, of course, he took the next one – with two good breaks of 50 and 56 – to keep his hopes alive. But Igor wasn’t in the mood for a long afternoon. After a few safey exchanges, he got it… and a great 88 sealed it.
Here are the pictures I took today …
I’m very pleased for Igor whose career was hindered by financial issues. He didn’t have the money to play on the main tour and support his family, whilst staying in the UK. I guess that the cost of living in Brazil is significantly lower to what it is in the UK, and, remember, there was no 20000 pounds guaranteed back then. But he loves the game and played the best snooker all week. He’s a totally deserving champion!
This is the best World Seniors Snooker Championship I have attended so far. First of all, I want to thank Jason Francis for all the hard work he puts into the Seniors snooker circuit and for inviting me. Next – but not least – l want to thank the players. They gave it all and it made for a great five days of snooker. And finally, thank you as well to everyone at the Crucible this week: the players, the referees, the media people in the media room and on the floor as well as the personnel of the theatre. Everyone contributed to a great week and I always felt welcome.
Igor Figueiredo is the Mr Vegas World Seniors Snooker Champion
Igor Figueiredo defeated Ken Doherty 5-2 to win the Mr Vegas World Seniors Championship for the first time.
The victory marks the greatest success of the 46-year-old’s career as he becomes the first player from outside of Europe to lift the prestigious World Seniors crown and secures the £20,000 winner’s cheque, the £2,000 high break prize and entry into the Champion of Champions.
For Doherty, the wait goes on to complete a unique ‘grand slam’ as the World Seniors title continues to elude the Irish former World Professional, World Amateur and World Under-21 champion.
Figueiredo qualified for the event as the Pan-American Seniors champion was unarguably a deserved champion, dropping just four frames as he defeated World Women’s Seniors champion Tessa Davidson, 4-time and defending champion Jimmy White and Tony Drago before overcoming 1997 World champion Doherty in the title match.
‘The Darling of Dublin’ had shown his grit and determination in making the final, coming from behind against both Tyson Crinis and Dechawat Poomjaeng before securing a 4-1 victory over Barry Pinches in the last four, and he made a dream start to the Sunday afternoon contest by firing in a break of exactly 100 to take an early lead.
The Brazilian, who wrapped up his semi-final match with back-to-back centuries, continued to show his break-building prowess as he compiled breaks of 72 and 93 to storm into a 3-1 lead at the mid-session interval.
The fifth frame saw a potential turning point when Figueiredo looking to be clearing up to take it but missed the green to allow Doherty a seemingly golden opportunity to reduce the deficit. However, the Irishman was unable to capitalise as he too jawed the green to leave his Brazilian opponent with the simplest of chances to move one away from victory.
Doherty briefly rallied in emphatic fashion with two half centuries in the sixth to make it 4-2, but it was too little too late as an emotional Figueiredo fired in an 88 clearance for glory before punching the air in front of a joyous Crucible crowd.
“I don’t have the words for this moment – I’m still sleeping or dreaming!” Figueiredo said after the victory.
“I think I played very well. I am very happy that people enjoyed it and for the people in Brazil. I have a lot of people behind me giving me support – thank you so much.
“I came in very confident but also nervous because it was a very important moment, not only for myself and my history but for the Americas – it is very important for current players and for the future generation.”
World Seniors Snooker would like to thank Channel 5, Mr Vegas Casino and everyone involved in making the 2024 World Seniors Snooker Championship a success.
Ken Doherty and Igor Figueiredo will meet in the final of the 2024 Mr Vegas World Seniors Championship final after both won their semi-finals by a 4-1 scoreline on Saturday afternoon at the Crucible Theatre.
Both players are aiming to lift the World Seniors title for the first time in their career and they will face off on Sunday afternoon in a best-of-nine frame title match.
Doherty is now one victory away from the completion of an historic ‘grand slam’ which would see him add the Seniors crown alongside the World Under-21, World Amateur and World Professional titles he won in 1989 and 1997 respectively.
Meanwhile, Figueiredo becomes the first ever cueist from outside of Europe to reach the final of the tournament and success against Doherty would represent the biggest victory of the 46-year-old’s career.
UNSTOPPABLE IGOR FIRES THROUGH
Figueiredo gave the finest performance of the tournament so far to wrap up a 4-1 victory over ‘The Tornado’ Tony Drago with back-to-back century breaks.
The high-scoring nature of the contest may have come as a surprise to those watching the opening frame which was a nervy affair and saw neither player able to build up any rhythm as the Brazilian took it on the final blue.
The break-building quickly arrived for both players as Drago levelled the game with a break of 69 before Figueiredo restored his advantaged with his first half-century of the afternoon.
A stunning break of 110 from Figueiredo, the first century break of this year’s tournament, moved the Brazilian one frame away from the final and he charged over the line in emphatic fashion by firing in a 119 to complete the victory with impressive back-to-back centuries.
After reaching Sunday’s final, Figueiredo said: “I am very happy – I played very well in the last two frames. Two century breaks is not bad for myself! I am very happy to get into the final.
The Brazilian credits his wife Camilla for his upturn in form and he said after the victory: “My wife is my heart, she inspires me a lot and gives me power and support. My life changed after my wife and I do everything for her.”
CRAFTY KEN INTO SECOND SENIORS FINAL
Doherty booked his place in a first Mr Vegas World Seniors Championship final since 2020 by defeating Barry Pinches 4-1 in the semi-final.
The Irishman offered his best performance of the event so far and will be aiming to quash the memories of his last World Seniors final, when he led Jimmy White 4-0 at the Crucible before succumbing to a 5-4 defeat.
There was clear tension early on in the contest with the first frame taking over half an hour before Doherty crucially took it on the final black.
The 1997 World champion ultimately needed three visits to take the second frame, but eventually got over the line, before an unexpected miss from an out-of-sorts Pinches allowed Doherty to move one away from victory at 3-0.
The Englishman briefly rallied to pull a frame back at 3-1, but it was too little too late as ‘The Darling of Dublin’ completed the victory in frame five to set up a Sunday afternoon final meeting with Figueiredo.
“I got off to a good start by winning that black ball game and I’m thrilled to bits to get through to the final” Doherty reflected post-match.
“It was a really tough match and I’m a bit jaded but just so excited about tomorrow and the final against Igor Figueiredo.
“I’m not going to count any chickens, I’m just going to go out and play my best and give it all I can. I definitely want to win this tournament, it’s one I want to tick off my list, but I have a very tough opponent in front of me.”
Tony Drago beat Stuart Watson by 3-1 and you will find the frames scores for that match here. Tony started very impressively: he won the first frame in no time and in one scoring visit with a break of 91. It proved to be the only big break of the match as the next three frames were extremely close and “fragmented”. I spoke briefly to Stuart after the match and he was absolutely devastated, maybe not as much about the outcome as he was about his performance. Stuart is currently the Seniors number one, he has never been a pro. He qualified for this event by winning a lot of matches on the Seniors tour. Stuart and other senior players like him deserve much better than the scorn the “other number one”, Mark Allen, showed for the event yesterday on twitter… It could be you here in a few years Mark, and delighted to be part of it as well. Time catches up with everyone.
Anyway… here are the images taken during that match:
Barry Pinches always looked in control of the last quarter-final . He beat James Wattana by 3-1. It’s not every day that you see a canary get the better of a typhoon … it can only happen only on a snooker table, an environment well known to create unexpected events and produce “strange things”. The scores for that match are here. Barry looks very, very sharp. He’s entered the Q-School so, as you would expect, he has put the hours in, and it shows,
Here are the images for that match:
And Michaela was trying to steal my job…
Seriously … she was taking pictures of a very proud Mark Beale. Mark has given a lot of his time to the amateur game, refereeing on the Women’s Tour, on the Seniors’ Tour, and countless hours in the “900” events. Yesterday he refereed at the Crucible… a totally deserved recognition for his impeccable work and his dedication to the sport we love.
Jimmy White’s defence of the World Seniors title came to an end at the hands of Igor Figueiredo. Igor beat him by 3-0 in the first match of this afternoon. The scores are available on snookerscores.net as usual. Jimmy never really settled in this match. Igor was always in control of the first frame and took it comfortably. It looked for all the world that Jimmy would take the second frame but Igor stole it on the last colours. From then on, Jimmy looked very nervous and anxious. Igor did what he had to do and closed the match on a whitewash score.
Here are the pictures taken before and during that match:
The reason I took those “general view” pictures this afternoon is that Mark Allen came on Twitter/X suggesting that nobody was interested in watching this event. I’m not sure why Mark felt the need to post such a thing but when he challenged me to show the crowd … I took the challenge. No, it’s not a full packed house, but, considering that this is a week-day afternoon it’s still a very decent crowd. Actually, there were more people than shown in the pictures. This was taken during frame 3. A number of viewers had left the arena after the first two frames … heading for refreshments or for the loo.
The second match of the afternoon session saw Ken Doherty beat Dechawat Poomjaeng by 3-2. You will find the scores here. Other than the second, all frames were one-sided. Poomy lead 2-1, having scored a 50 break in frame 3. The “danger” seemed to spur Kendo on … he dominated the last two frames, scoring breaks of 51 and 70 in the process.
The evening session yesterday saw the conclusion of the round of 16 at the “Seniors Crucible”.
In the first match of the evening, the “Canary”, Barry Pinches, beat Joe Johnson quite convincingly by 3-1. Barry played really well, and scored well too. If he can keep that form he’s certainly a contender for the title. You will find the scores here. At the time of writing the scores for the last frame are missing. As always Barry was huffing and puffing throughout but he was getting on with the job mercilessly …
Here are the pictures taken during that match:
The last match of the day – and the last of the last 16 round – was eagerly anticipated. The unpredictable Dechawat Poomjaeng was due to face the always very serious Darren Morgan. Nobody knew what to expect … except for the unexpected. When “Poomy” turned up – rather last minute – I was probably the first to meet him in the corridor …
… and he asked me, rather anxiously, if he needed a bowtie … 😄 … I wouldn’t mind one way or the other, I’m just a photographer that was not my decision to take!
Anyway… the guy is crazy (in a nice way) but there was nothing much crazy coming out of his cue once he was at the table! He beat Darren Morgan by 3-1 and it could easily have been 3-0! Here are the scores.
And the images taken during the match…
Considering that yesterday was a week-day, the event was very well attended by the public. Then, of course, Jimmy was playing …
Here is the program for today … in the order of play
Jimmy White v Igor Figueiredo (12h local time)
Dechawat Poomjaeng v Ken Doherty (approximatively 14h)
Stuart Watson v Tony Drago (19h)
Barry Pinches v James Wattana (approximatively 21h)
The action continued today at the Crucible, in front of a good crowd, considering that this is aweek day and and afternoon session.
The first match of the day saw Tony Drago beat Michael Judge by 3-1. The full results are on snookerscores.net. I wasn’t expecting anything from Tony who, in recent years, has suffered some serious health issues but he played really well. He’s certainly been putting the hourd in on the practice table. Nothing at all against Michael Judge but I’m very pleased for Tony. Here are the images taken before and during that match.
The next match saw the defending champion, Jimmy White take on Andrew Norman, a player who had never before played at the Crucible. Andrew, who used to work at the SWSA in Gloucester, took the first two frames. A big upset looked on the cards at that stage. But the match turned on one ball in the next frame, a frame Jimmy took before winning the next two. Andrew, who was watched by his wife and young son Elliott, had no complaints. Despite the defeat he told me that he had enjoyed the experience. You couldn’t meet a nicer man than Andrew. I was gutted for him, more than he was himself.
Here are the images taken before and during that match, a match during which Leo Scullion was really put to hard work!
It all brought back a lot of memories from the SWSA days. Both Andrew and Jimmy were managed by Paul Mount for a while, Andrew worked at the SWSA and Clive Brown, who was marking this match, used to be the TD at the Pink Ribbon… those were the days…
The first match of the evening saw Stuart Watson literally destroy Tony Knowles, beating him by 3-0. The scores are available on snookerscores.net . At the time of writing the score of the last frame is clearly wrong. This is manual entry and should be the other way around. When I say destroy, it’s not like Tony was potted off the table but he never looked at ease and Stuart was in a very punishing mood whenever Tony made a mistake. Stuart is making the most of his opportunity: he wasn’t originally in the draw and was called in when Mohamed Khairy was forced to withdraw because of visa issues.
Here are the images from that match:
The second match of the evening was a really good one. Tessa Davidson, the Women Seniors Champion gave a really good account of herself. She was extremely nervous at the start of the match but, after the first frame, she was able to show how good she is. She was beaten by Igor Figueiredo, by 3-1, but Igor had to play really well to get the win. In the second frame – which she won – Tessa made a very good 76 break. Again the scores are on snookerscores.net but at the time of writing, the last frame is missing and Tessa’s break isn’t shown. There was a lot of praise in the media room for both players.
Here are the images of that match:
Regarding the “media” conditions I have to say that they are excellent. We have a nice media room and the wifi is working great. I was very happy to see everyone again and, it seems, everyone was happy to see me back as well 😀
And so it begins… the first session of this year “Seniors Crucible” was played this afternoon. We are only at the last 16 stage but every match is important of course. These are short matches – best of 5 – and there is a 30 seconds shot clock. 30 seconds is plenty of time and shouldn’t be a problem for anyone. The idea is to prevent players to get bogged down.
Before the start of the event, I took a walk around the venue. Outside and inside…
In the second match of the afternoon Ken Doherty faced Tyson Crinis from Australia. Ken beat him by 3-1. The scores are on snookerscores.net and, as you can see the match was actually a really close affair. All credits to Tyson there because this certainly was a totally unfamiliar environment and the time difference was bound to take its toll on him too. Before the match started, Neil Robertson sent a video message in support of his compatriot which was quite nice to see. I do hope that Tyson enjoyed the experience, he certainly didn’t disgrace himself!
SENIORS OF SHEFFIELD DAY RETURNS TO THE CRUCIBLE THEATRE
World Seniors Snooker is delighted to announce the return of the Seniors of Sheffield Day which will take place during the World Seniors Snooker Championship on Friday 10 May.
In partnership with Age UK Sheffield, the day will bring 600 local residents from the aging population in the city to the Crucible Theatre to watch the event and meet some legends of the snooker world.
The number of over 50’s experiencing loneliness is set to reach two million by 2025/6. This compares to around 1.4 million in 2016/7 – a 49% increase in 10 years and Age UK reported in 2016 that there are 1.2 million chronically lonely older people in the UK.
Jason Francis, Chairman of World Seniors Snooker and creator of the initiative, said “According to our partners Age UK half a million older people go at least five or six days a week without seeing or speaking to anyone at all. Loneliness, living alone and poor social connections is hugely detrimental to people’s health”
Rohit Sagoo, World Seniors Director said “It’s about getting those who are in the aging population in Sheffield out of their seats, out of their homes to come and watch some snooker at the Crucible.”
John Parrott, 1991 World Snooker Champion said “It’s a brilliant idea, everyone’s excited to see the snooker and meet some of the legends. It’s a wonderful initiative for the event and the city”
Lucy Sharp from Age UK Sheffield said “Last year was such an amazing success and we have been inundated with requests for tickets this year. Giving the people of Sheffield a day out to meet the stars, meet each other and see some snooker has been so well received”
The Mr Vegas World Seniors Snooker Championship which will be played between 8-12 May and be shown live in the UK on Channel 5.
Because Mohamed Khairy couldn’t get the required visas, he will unfortunately not be able to take his place in the draw. He is replaced by the current Seniors number one, Stuart Watson.
Here is the revised order of play:
Ii has also been announced that Leo Scullion will be the referee for the final.
The WPBSA World Seniors Tour 