The Crucible Theatre welcomed snooker again yesterday, as the 2023 World Seniors Snooker Championship got underway. Lee Walker is the defending Champion, but his defence was short-lived…
Gerard Greene and Mark Davis were both winners during the opening session of the 2023 LLP Solicitors World Seniors Snooker Championship on Wednesday night at the Crucible Theatre.
In the tournament’s curtain-raiser, Greene dethroned reigning champion Lee Walker 3-1.
Walker – who memorably ousted Jimmy White in the final here 12 months ago – looked sharp in the first frame as he made breaks of 52 and 31.
However, Greene responded well, registering an effort of 45 early on in frame two before potting a red from long range and making a 28 clearance to pink to level the match. Despite missing pots that his opponent could not fully capitalise on, Greene largely continued his momentum and claimed the next two frames to set up a date with either Peter Lines or Ben Hancorn in the last eight on Saturday.
The winner of this title in 2016, Davis is in contention to be crowned again following a 3-0 victory against two-time ranking event champion Tony Knowles.
With the opening frame in the balance come the final stages, late replacement to the event Knowles let slip a safety shot which Davis punished to go in front.
Davis would go on to compile runs of 59 and 51 in frames two and three respectively to help complete a 3-0 win and book his berth in the quarter-finals.
Action in the 2023 LLP Solicitors World Seniors Snooker Championship resumes on Thursday night in Sheffield as Ken Doherty faces Alfie Burden, and Tony Drago meets Vito Puopolo. The winner of the latter match will be scheduled to play Davis on Saturday.
I’m at the Crucible and I was made to feel very welcome as I reconnected with friends who I hadn’t seen for many years … and, of course I took loads of pictures. Interestingly, although there is no Chinese player in the draw, the Chinese media is well represented on site and the event is streamed in China.
Here are three photo albums telling the story of the first day…
The 2023 World Seniors Championship starts this evening in Sheffield. Mohamed Khairy unfortunately couldn’t make the trip and is replaced in the draw by Tony Knowles. Tony will play Mark Davis in the first round.
The 2023 LLP Solicitors World Seniors Snooker Championship runs from May 3-7, with an all-star field including the likes of Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty, Joe Johnson and Jimmy White. So even when the Cazoo World Championship finishes, you’ll still be able to watch snooker at the Crucible.
For the draw and ticket details click here and here are the broadcasters:
Philip Williams will be back at the Crucible, after winning the “Golden Ticket” yesterday. He beat Craig Steadman in the Final. He will play Jimmy White in the first round at the Crucible.
Congratulations Philip!
This is now the complete line-up and round one schedule
The only spot still to be filled is the “Golden Ticket” Winner. The Golden Ticket event will be played over the coming week-end in Reading, and you will be able to follow the event and find all results here.
We have some very interesting match-ups but the match that caught my eye is
Stephen Hendry v Darren Morgan
Those two have played each other 16 times during their professional careers, Hendry prevailing 15 times. Darren’s only win over Stephen came at the 1990 British Open. Their first professional match dates back to 1988 at the New Zealand Masters. Their last professional match was played at the Crucible: Stephen beat Darren by 13-10 in the quarter-finals of the 1997 World Snooker Championship. That said, Darren, unlike Stephan has continued to play competitively on a regular basis in recent years, and still plays at a very high level. I have to make Darren favourite here.
I’m also very happy to see Mark Davis in the draw. After the heartbreaking way he lost his tour card only last week, this is something he can look forward to and, in my opinion, he’s a very serious contender for the title.
Also intriguing is the match between Ken Doherty and Alfie Burden. Although they have both played on the main tour for a very long time they have only met each other four times, Ken prevailing three times. Their first encounter dates back to the 1999 British Open. Alfie’s only win came at the 2015 Shoot Out which is also the last time they played each other.
The last spot at the 2023 World Seniors Snooker Championship will go to the winner of the “Golden Ticket. The field is now – almost – set as announced by World Seniors Snooker on social media
The Golden Ticket line up has been finalised. One of these players will win the Golden Ticket to the 2023 LLP Solicitors World Seniors Snooker Championship.
Also announced … Alisha Singh will be there, doing players interviews and backstage presentation.
Happy to announce, Alisha Singh as our behind the scenes Presenter for the LLP Solicitors World Seniors Snooker Championship. Alisha will be delivering daily highlights, interviews with players and backstage content from The Crucible! #daretodream LLP Solicitors
I don’t think any player will refuse to do the interviews …
The top eight seeds have been announced ahead of the LLP Solicitors World Seniors Snooker Championship. The eight cannot meet each other in Round 1 and will be seeded into position, with a really dangerous eight other players waiting to take them on in the crucible. The Draw will once again be done live during coverage of the World Professional Snooker Championships on BBC.
The Seeds have been made from the 7 invited players and the next highest ranked on the current World Professional Rankings taking seed 8. These are
1, Lee Walker (Defending Champion)
2, Mark Davis
3, Jimmy White
4, Ken Doherty
5, Stephen Hendry
6, Joe Johnson
7, Tony Drago
8, Peter Lines.
We know Seven of the Eight who will face them, these are
Darren Morgan (Current European Seniors Champion)
Vito Puopolo (Current Pan American Seniors Champion)
Gerard Greene
Mohamed Khairy (Current African Seniors Champion)
Alfie Burden
Ben Hancorn (Amateur Qualifier)
Adrian Ridley (Current Asia-Pacific Seniors Champion)
Golden Ticket Winner (Last place will be won weekend of 22/23rd April from top 16 on Seniors Ranking list not already qualified)
Should the top 8 seeds progress we could see some mouth watering ties in the Quarter Finals…. Lee Walker v Peter Lines would see the current World and Uk Champions face off, Stephen Hendry v Ken Doherty would also evoke plenty of memories.
Certain players matches have already been scheduled so you can join us and make sure you see your favourites in action.
To see the defending Champion play on Wednesday 3rd
This was announced today on the World Seniors Snooker Facebook page
APBSF Seniors Champion Adrian Ridley from Yarrawonga, a small country town in North East Victoria, Australia is COMING TO THE CRUCIBLE!
Adrian’s reward for winning the Asia Pacific Billiards and Snooker Federation Seniors Title is a trip to Sheffield where he will line up against the likes of Jimmy White and Stephen Hendry!
On hearing the news he was won his place at the World Seniors he said “Playing in the one table setup at the crucible is like a dream come true for any snooker player. The crucible is the pinnacle of snooker and just having the chance to visit the arena is special, but to be able to play in it is something only most players would dream of”
The LLP Solicitors World Seniors Snooker Championship takes place from the 3rd- 7th May.
PRESS RELEASE – LLP SOLICITORS TO SPONSOR THE WORLD SENIORS
World Seniors Snooker are delighted to announce LLP Solicitors as the title sponsor of the 2023 World Seniors Snooker Championship.
Based in London LLP Solicitors offers an “elite and dedicated” legal service to those who are involved in heavy litigation and/or high net worth clients who require superior advice and assistance.
They also undertake criminal work with an on demand service with a team of top legal professionals. The World Seniors Snooker Championship runs from the 3rd – 7th May from the famous Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and features legends such as Jimmy White, Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty and Tony Drago. Lee Walker from Wales is the defending champion. The Event will be shown live on BBC Digital Channels as well as Worldwide via other platforms.
The WPBSA World Seniors Tour 