This was broadcast on BBC yesterday
source: https://www.facebook.com/WorldSnooker1/videos/10155217796442062/
Year: 2018
Exciting Times Ahead! Dare To Dream!
Today is a big day for the World Seniors tour with this announcement by WPBSA
WPBSA World Seniors Tour
3rd May 2018
The World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) is today delighted to announce the official formation of the WPBSA World Seniors Snooker Tour.
Following the statement last December that the WPBSA would engage to develop an official tour of events for players over 40, we can now confirm that a new subsidiary company known as World Seniors Snooker will be formed under the auspices of the WPBSA, which during the 2018/19 season will run a full calendar of six World Seniors ranking events.
Jason Francis, founder of Snooker Legends will be a partner in the company and brings a wealth of experience from his previous involvement in developing successful Legends events and more recently was granted the rights to run the World Seniors Championship on behalf of the World Snooker Tour. Following two successful events, the project now merits the support of snooker’s world governing body and its amateur international federation, the World Snooker Federation to continue its growth.
Francis will be joined on the board by WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson and WPBSA player director and current professional world number eight Shaun Murphy, who will both support the tour with their undoubted passion to develop amateur snooker globally.
Events
The 2018/19 calendar for the World Seniors Snooker Tour will comprise six major ranking events, highlighted by the World Seniors Championship to be held next March.
- European Seniors Open (venue TBC) – 11-14 October 2018
- UK Seniors Championship (Hull) – 23-25 October 2018
- Seniors Irish Masters (Goffs, Ireland) – 4-6 January 2019
- World Seniors 6-Red Championship (Belfast, Northern Ireland) – 2-3 March 2019
- World Seniors Championship (venue TBC) – 25-29 March 2019
- Seniors Masters (Crucible Theatre, Sheffield) – 10-11 April 2019
These events will be supplemented by 15 qualifying tournaments, including new events in Canada, Hong Kong, Belgium and the United States of America. Each qualifier will carry a minimum €1,000 prize for the winner and a place at a World Seniors ranking event.
Key points
- The WPBSA World Seniors Snooker Tour will comprise six international ranking events during the 2018/19 season and carrying a total prize fund of £200,000.
- The first prize for the 2019 World Seniors Championship will increase from £10,000 to £25,000.
- There will be 15 international qualifying events staged during the season, each carrying a minimum first prize of €1,000.
- The WPBSA and the World Seniors Snooker Tour will continue to work together to provide a pathway for amateurs to be able to compete at professional events. The winners of the 2019 World Seniors Championship and now the 2018 UK Seniors Championship will both earn a place at the 2019 professional World Championship qualifiers.
- There will be a one-year amateur World Seniors ranking list, which will see the top 16 ranked players at the end of the season qualify for a new event to be staged at Blackpool’s Norbreck Castle In 2019.
- All players who currently, or go on to receive an Invitational Tour Card to play on the World Snooker Tour will be eligible to compete in World Seniors Tour events.
Dare to dream
Under the ‘dare to dream’ message World Seniors events staged during the past two years have seen many retired players picking up their cues again, with opportunities to either return to or even compete for the first time at some of snooker’s most iconic venues now available to them.
The WPBSA clearly recognises that there is a demand from many amateurs and the former greats of the professional sport who have still got the desire to play snooker competitively. The World Seniors Snooker Tour therefore provides an important facility by which retiring players from the professional World Snooker Tour will be able to extend their careers.
These events also carry a great nostalgia, evoking memories of great sporting moments that we have witnessed in snooker that have created the legends in our sport. Nobody will forget the first ever maximum 147 break made at the Crucible made by Canada’s Cliff Thorburn back in 1983 and so to see him lift the trophy at the same venue some 35 years later last month was a truly special moment.
WPBSA chairman Jason Ferguson said: “Today we pay thanks to those greats who have helped bring our sport to where it is today. The tour will provide a supporting role to the World Snooker Tour, providing an attractive corporate model, being agile enough to work with amateur federations and new territories around the world and at the same time using great champions of the past to deliver our message.”
World Seniors chairman Jason Francis said: “It is a proud and historic day for me to help create new opportunities for players, whether they are former world champions or enthusiastic club players. I am grateful for the support from World Snooker and the WPBSA for helping us to make this a reality.”
And here, published on the World Seniors Tour Players Forum on Facebook, is the provisional Calendar
If you are a World Seniors Tour Player don’t hesitate to join the discusiion there.
This is Jason’s “summary” message on the forum
Leaving sheff but will update properly later.
Headlines
6 ranking events
200k prize money
15 qualifiers including Hong Kong, Houston Texas, Toronto Canada, China, Belgium, Ireland and England
Minimum 1000 euros winner qualifier
Win a wc qualifier and get £2500!
New official playing shirt to replace dickies in qualifiers which player must buy
Q format – don’t say I don’t listen😎
European open Best of 5 no respot
Irish masters best of 5 no respot
6 reds best of 7 no respot
Worlds, masters and uk 2-2 then respot.
Respot deciders at all Final Events
£50 entry per event
Have to be a member of your national governing body before first days play
Winner of uk and worlds get place in world professional qualifiers
More referees and steaming at qualifiers
Top 16 end of season norbreck castle
Belfast 6 reds 20k winner takes all!!!That enough to get you going…????
I need a rest..
Reward for the top 16… they do battle!
Here is the line-up for the event that will see the top 16 amateurs (season 2017/18) do battle in Newbury …
Blogger Michael Day reflects on the inaugural full season on the World Seniors Tour
Read it here
Our Friends…
2017/18 WORLD SENIORS SNOOKER TOUR – SEASONAL REVIEW
From China to the Crucible, the inaugural World Seniors Snooker Tour has visited clubs and famous arenas in the UK and beyond.
Building on from the success of the popular Snooker Legends series and the re-invention of the World Seniors Championship, entrepreneur Jason Francis and his team expanded the seniors palette this season by adding three further major titles. The concept has gained momentum and approval, even being recognised by the sport’s governing body, the WPBSA, as opportunities and dreams have been realised for all amateur players aged 40 or above.
The opening major of the season in October saw Jimmy White capture the UK Seniors Championship at the The Harlequin Theatre in Redhill; a quarter of a century on from winning the professional version.
White defeated Ken Doherty 4-2 in the final after overcoming amateur qualifiers Les Dodd and then Jonathan Bagley in the Quarter and Semi-Finals. During the event Doherty compiled a break of 137.
One of the most iconic venues in snooker history is Goffs – synonymous with professional snooker in Ireland. It got a chance to stage a big competitive event again with the creation of the Irish Seniors Masters in January.
There was also a return to the competitive fold for Steve Davis, who was a replacement for Stephen Hendry. The Nugget made the most of his cameo by eliminating Dennis Taylor, John Parrott and then qualifier Bagley 4-0 in the final.The main event of the season was the expanded World Seniors Championship that again was open to any amateur player aged 40 or above.
Evolving the tournament and making it even more inclusive, there were eight opportunities for players to feature at the main stage via various club qualifiers and join the invited legends at the Baths Hall – double the amount from 2017. As well as domestic qualifiers, there was also a ground-breaking event staged in China – proof that the tour is thinking internationally.
16 players would remain in Scunthorpe. Much talk revolved around Hendry and his chances of claiming the title and a subsequent berth at Crucible qualifying afterwards, but it was the less talked about Aaron Canavan – a car restorer from Jersey, who ‘Dared to Dream’ and walked off with £10,000.
Canavan held his nerve in the final against former World Professional Championship Quarter-Finalist Patrick Wallace by slotting home the Tie-Breaker Black Ball to win 4-3, having been 3-1 down.
It didn’t work out for Canavan at the EIS earlier this week, but he can feast out on being a reigning World Champion for a good while yet.
The last major of the campaign was the one-day spectacular held at the Crucible on Thursday. The Seniors Masters saw 70 year old Cliff Thorburn roll back the years and lift the John Spencer Trophy aloft after a Tie-Breaker Black Ball victory over Bagley in the final.
Despite not securing one of the four major trophies, in some ways, Leeds taxi-driver Bagley was the player of the season because of his sheer consistency throughout.
Including the World Seniors in 2017, Bagley has qualified for every venue so far and finishes the tour as the Number 1 ranked amateur. Whilst it was terrific seeing Thorburn so joyous at winning the Masters, a trophy for Bagley would have been richly deserved given his efforts over the last few months. Of the five majors so far, he has made two finals and three semi-finals.
Hendry’s form in these events has also been a notable talking point having failed to make a final in the three legs he participated in. In fact, his only victory was a 3-0 defeat of Tony Knowles at Redhill. It is maybe a wake up call for the seven-times World Champion if he wants to be successful on the tour next season.
Talking of next season, the World Seniors Tour appears to be evolving again with qualifiers potentially being held in the USA and Australia. Considering it will be just its second full season, so much has been achieved in such a small space of time.
Although the quartet of major champions has now been confirmed, the Top 16 ranked amateurs from this season will compete at a special knock-out competition in a few weeks time. Bagley will be the top seed.
Pictures above are courtesy of the World Seniors Snooker Tour / Monique Limbos
Michael is passionate about snooker and, through his blog, gives us great insights into the amateur and women’s game as well as the professional events. He also covers pool, billiards and more. recommended to all cue sports fans!
Assetereum World Seniors Masters 2018 – Cliff Thorburn is your Champion!
Congratulations Cliff Thorburn
Assetrereum World Seniors Masters 2018 Champion
Cliff beat Jonathan Bagley by 2-0 in the Final to lift the John Spencer Trophy … the same John Spencer who had beaten him in the first ever World Final at the Crucible, 41 years ago!
David Caulfield made an excellent account of Cliff’s triump on his blog
Here is an excerpt with Cliff’s quotes … to say that it meant a lot is a huge understatement!
The 1980 world champion said: “It’s very meaningful for me being back here at the Crucible. Jonathan actually beat me the last few times but I just felt good being here – there are lots of good memories here.”
“I’m 70 now and I get a little nervy but I’m just so proud to win the first John Spencer Trophy. John helped me to turn pro and he was a great friend for all of my life, he was a classy individual.”
And here are all the images I took at the event:
Quarter Finals
Semi Finals and Final
The Assetereum Seniors Masters 2018 Gala Dinner
Yesterday evening, the Assetereum Seniors Masters 2018 was “launched” at the Mercure St Paul in Sheffield… there were Legends aplenty at the gala dinner attended by all the players.
Mike Watterson, the man without whom the World Championship wouldn’t be synonim of “Crucible”, was amongst the guests and was duly honoured.
The evening had everything, good food, laugher, quizzes and a karaoke…
This is what the tournament has in store for the fans and the players today…
More images taken yesterday evening here
Aaron Canavan beaten by Robert Milkins at the World Championships 2018 Qualifiers
Robert Milkins, a professional since 1995, who was once ranked as high as 13th in the world, had too much experience for Aaron who was competing in his first ever professional match. Robert eventually beat Aaron by 10-1. But the match wasn’t as one-sided as the score suggests. During the first half of the match, Aaron competed really well, in particular in the tactical department. However he didn’t have Robert’s scoring power and struggled with the pace of the table that was … too slow! Indeed, in preparation of this match, Aaron had practiced on a very fast table. Yesterday, in the English Institute of Sports, its was chilly and damp, and the tables were playing slow (this was told to me by both Aaron and Robert independently).
Disappointment obviously, but a great experience nonetheless.
Aaron Canavan is interviewed ahead of his first match in the World Championship 2018 Qualifiers
No comments needed … just listen! It means so, so much!
This interview was recorded today by Jason Francis and shared on the Snooker Legends Facebook page.
Good luck Aaron! #daretodream
The scene is getting ready at the EIS
Aaron Canavan will play Robert Milkins in the first round of the World Championship Qualifiers
Worldsnooker has published the draw and format for the World Championship 2018 Qualifiers.
Aaron Canavan, the Seniors World Champion will face Robert Milkins on the very first day of the competition over best of 19, two sessions: 11th of April, 10 am and 7pm (UK time). Best of luck Aaron. Should he win, Scott Donaldson or Tyler Rees would be waiting next.
Looking back at the Assetereum Seniors World Championship 2018
It was an amazing event!
Aaron Canavan is your Champion!
Jason Francis took the opportunity to share some good news about next season. Here they are:
Assetereum World Seniors. We have some amazing facts so far! Over 500 players have entered the qualifiers this season. Peter Lines has flown the flag for our event, a very worthy Champion.
A minimum of 5 Senior events this coming season!
New opportunities for our Champions and we have qualifiers in Hong Kong and New York already lined up
Entry fee cut to £50, halved! We have joined with WDBS with a free place for their nominated player. Ladies are also now playing in our Tour
Ranking list will be official under WPBSA. £5500 on offer for top 16 at the end of the season Shootout
Lastly, next year at the end of the season we will have an event for the top 16 of the Tour and we will take them back to the Norbrek Castle where it all started for so many…
And I have published a gallery with all the images taken during the four days!
The WPBSA World Seniors Tour 