The former ranking event winner arrived on Boxing Day expecting an early exit at the hands of current World Snooker Tour (WST) number 18 Stuart Bingham but delighted the crowds in Derby to lift his maiden title on the World Seniors Snooker (WSS) Tour.
British Open snooker returned to Derby for the first time since 1993 as a strong eight-player field embarked on the Vaillant Live venue for three days of action.
Perry kicked off the opening day against 2015 world champion Bingham, who was making his debut on the WSS Tour and arrived as the tournament favourite with title sponsors JenningsBet.
It was the man known as ‘The Gentleman’ who dominated, however, as a top break of 61 helped Perry to a whitewash win to reach the semi-finals.
There he faced former UK and Masters champion Matthew Stevens, who had won through a dramatic black ball shoot out on Friday evening to defeat Anthony Hamilton 4-3 in the quarter-finals.
In a contest that saw some remarkable displays of break-building, a total of seven contributions over 50 were compiled as Perry ran out a 5-3 victor with the tournament high break of 131 in the sixth frame.
The ever-popular White set up a title match meeting with Perry by coming from 2-0 behind to beat reigning World Seniors champion and recently-crowned Shoot Out winner Alfie Burden 5-3 in the last four.
‘The Whirlwind’, who had earlier overcome 1997 world champion Ken Doherty 4-2 on the opening day, was welcomed into the arena on Sunday afternoon to a rapturous ovation from the Derby crowd – but it was Perry who comfortably took the opening frame of the best-of-13 contest.
The final was a tense and evenly matched affair as the first six frames were shared between the two players – White pulling out a stunning clearance from brown to black in the sixth to hit back after Perry had scored a break of 100 in the previous frame.
There remained nothing between the two fierce competitors, with neither player being more than a frame ahead at any point when the score was once again levelled at 5-5 in the race to seven.
A pair of half-century breaks then saw Perry pull away to secure the first WSS Tour title of his career.
The whole event was a treat. Nearly every match was quality. The only really one-sided match was the 4-0 win by Alfie Burden over Dominic Dale in round 1.
Taking into consideration that this event was played between Christmas and New Year celebrations it was very well attended. The fans in attendance were spoiled and duly showed their appreciation for what they witnessed.
The coverage by Channel 5 was excellent as well. My only “issue” with it is that it’s only available in the UK… unless, of course, you’re a bit of a techie and know how to circumvent such obstacles. But really, it’s a bit of a shame that it isn’t made available outside the UK. What the Seniors players showed in this event deserved more exposure. Let’s not forget that more exposure also brings better chances to attract good (wealthy 😉) sponsors. Jason (Francis). if you read this line … it is not a criticism directed at you nor at anyone involved the seniors tour. You all do everything in your power, and more, to put quality events on. I’m just stating a fact.
The WPBSA World Seniors Tour 