World Seniors Snooker Launches New Season with Increased Prize Money World Seniors Snooker (WSS) have today announced the dates for the 2025/26 season which will see nine tour events, with a minimum of four places available for players in their 2026 World Seniors Snooker Championship via the ranking list qualification system
Changes for the new campaign mean anyone over 40, including World Snooker Tour (WST) professionals, are now eligible to participate in the tour events which will see the winner’s prize doubled each weekend to £1,000 and prize money being paid down to the last 16.
Jason Francis, Chairman of WSS, said “This season there are a lot more players eligible to play, including a number of WST professionals, and we have pledged £27,000 in prize money across our nine events which is more than double the amount that was on offer last season. If you are over 40, now is the time to dust off your cue and come and enjoy some friendly but serious competition”
The season will begin on Friday 15 August 2025 with all events played at the Crucible Sports and Social Club in Reading.
TOUR DATES
2025
August 15-17
September 26-28
October 10-12
November 21-23
December 12-14
2026
January 16-18
February 6-8
March 6-8
April 3-5
On the Sunday of each weekend, a Super Seniors event will be staged for those aged over 55.
All events are now open for entry via WPBSA SnookerScores. A WSS Tour membership will be required in order to compete in the Race to the Crucible series.
The fact that players, including active professionals, are now eligible to compete on the Seniors Tour from the age of 40, instead of 45 in previous season, is a side effect of the failure of the negotiations between WST and Jason Francis, and one, I’m sure, that displeases WST much more than Jason…
How many active pros will be interested, and which ones, remains to be seen as they will have to set their priorities and find “spaces” in a rather full professional calendar. Another interesting question is wether the senior amateurs will feel excited at the prospect to play professionals and will embrace the challenge or if, on the contrary, this may be a deterrent if they feel that they have no chance to beat the pros.
All events will be played in Reading and that venue is very good but I remember the time, pre Brexit and pre covid, when some seniors qualifying events were played in mainland Europe. I wish it was still the case, but I guess, it would not be economically viable in the current state of affairs. It’s a shame though.
Mohamed Samy Elkhayat overcame Mohamed Alaa Khairy 5-4 in the final of the 2025 All-Africa Seniors Championship to earn an invitation to the 2026 World Seniors Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre.
Elkhayat, from Egypt, came through a field of 22 players from Africa to win the Seniors crown and earn the opportunity to fulfill a lifelong dream of playing at the sport’s most iconic venue next May.
The Egyptian qualified for the knockout stages by finishing second place in a group that also featured the Moroccan duo of Said Machal and Idriss El Mokri as well as Mahomed Idrisse from Mozambique.
A deciding frame victory over Rabi Younes followed in the last 16 before more comfortable success against Ahmed Galal (4-0) and newly-crowned All-Africa Six-Red champion Allie Mutalieb (4-1) saw Elkhayat book his place in the final.
Former professional Khairy, who lost in the final of the main competition 12 months ago, was the opponent in the title match after he had beaten Mahjoub Tawdi in the semi-finals.
The final was a hard-fought contest that came down to a deciding frame but, ultimately, it was Elkhayat who was able to get over the line to earn the title.
Jersey champion Aaron Canavan defeated Guernsey champion Paul Le Sauvage 5-0 to win the 2025 Channel Islands Snooker Championship.
Canavan has now claimed the Channel Islands crown for each of the last four consecutive years. It is the 12th time overall that the 49-year-old has won the title and he maintains his 100% record of having never lost the unique champion v champion challenge match.
Pitching together the recent winners of the respective Jersey and Guernsey championships, the two biggest islands in the region take it in turns each year to host the encounter – this year it was held at the North Social Club in Saint Sampson, Guernsey.
Former world seniors champion Canavan took control of the tie early on, compiling a break of 71 on his way to securing the opening frame before doubling his lead. An effort of 50 helped him to a 3-0 advantage before he reached the hill with frame four. Canavan finished the contest in style, fashioning a run of 101 in the fifth frame to complete a whitewash.
This dozen of Channel Island triumphs came just days after he won an incredible 14th Jersey championship title.
For six consecutive years now, Canavan has conquered on the island. What’s more, it is the third year in succession that he has not dropped a single frame en route to glory. The last time he relinquished a frame was during a last 16 match against Brett Campbell in the 2022 edition. Canavan’s last defeat in the competition was the 2019 final when he was ousted 4-3 by Gary Britton.
In this year’s title match staging, Canavan registered breaks of 60, 67 and 73 in a 4-0 victory over former winner Karl le Fevre. It was the third year in-a-row that the two had met in the final.
A few weeks after his latest domestic glories, Canavan went all the way to the final of the 2025 World Seniors Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre where he was stopped by Alfie Burden. In his semi-final match, Canavan produced a memorable comeback as he pipped Dominic Dale, 6-5, having been 5-2 down.
Le Sauvage completes hat-trick of Guernsey crowns after 24-year wait
Although the Channel Islands title would prove to be a step too far, Paul Le Sauvage can look back on a fantastic domestic campaign in Guernsey that saw him win his third island crown.
Winner of the Guernsey Snooker Championship in 1994 and 2001, Le Sauvage ended a 24-year wait for his hat-trick, rewriting the record books in the process with the longest gap between titles in the 94-year history of the competition.
In the early rounds of this year’s event, Le Sauvage eliminated Ali Gilliland 3-1, Kate Le Gallez 3-0, and John Skillet 4-3, before recovering from 3-1 behind to dethrone defending champion Adam Shorto 4-3 in the semi-finals. Shorto had lifted the trophy in each of the last two years.
In the final at the North Social Club, Le Sauvage scored a 5-0 win over Roscoe Cloarec to regain the island’s top snooker prize.
The WPBSA World Seniors Tour 