News about the 2025 World Seniors Snooker Championship

Jason Francis recently shared some important information about the 2025 World Seniors Snooker Championship:

World Seniors Snooker Announces Partnership with Sheffield Hallam University

World Seniors Snooker (WSS) is delighted to announce a ground breaking new partnership with Sheffield Hallam University which will see students currently studying Sport Business Management get real time experience working on the 2025 World Seniors Snooker Championship.

The initiative was launched yesterday by WSS Chairman Jason Francis and Director Mike Dunn with opportunities offered for students to experience every aspect of producing, promoting, planning and executing a major sporting TV event.

WSS are offering placements alongside their industry professionals for students to experience how staging a major sporting event in the city at the iconic Crucible Theatre with a live television production team comes together.

Chairman of World Seniors Snooker Jason Francis said “World Seniors Snooker has entered into a long term partnership with Sheffield Council to make the World Seniors Snooker Championship an event to showcase everything that is great about the Steel City. A Sheffield event for Sheffield people which engages with their ‘Sheffield Loves Snooker’ campaign. The energy and enthusiasm we got from the students yesterday proved to me that they can play a real part in making this year’s Championship the best ever. The work with Sheffield Hallam is the latest initiative which will sit alongside our Business and Youth of Sheffield Days and the continuation of Seniors of Sheffield Day. I am really looking forward to working with, but also learning from, them.”

Dr Ruth M Crabtree, Head of the School of Sport & Physical Activity said “We are delighted to be collaborating with the World Seniors Snooker. When you think of Sheffield and sport, you instantly think of snooker and this partnership is a great opportunity for our students to gain real world experience of working on a major iconic sport event and learn from experienced professionals. At Sheffield Hallam, our mission is to be the world leading applied university, and we pride ourselves on working with major sport organisations within Sheffield, the region and globally. The collaboration will allow students to work within sport marketing, media, public relations and event management, gaining key skills needed within sport management, helping enhance their CV, increase their network, and gain valuable expertise. We believe we are sector leading in offering value added opportunities for our students and it is always great to them jump ay the chance to volunteer for such initiatives. I am extremely confident our students will learn a lot and also some innovative and creative ideas to Jason Fracnis and his team at World Seniors Snooker.

Nathan Withey, a third year Sport Business Management Student, said “My time at Sheffield Hallam University has been filled with opportunities to improve my professionalism and to make sure I have experience when starting my career after graduation. What I’m most excited about for the World Senior Snooker Championship is the opportunity to gain valuable insight into how an event of this magnitude is created. What it takes to be involved, and the skills required to produce a sporting event which I can hopefully learn to harness though this opportunity. I am very much looking forward to working with the team and I am grateful for the opportunity.”

The World Seniors Snooker Championship starts on Wednesday 7 May and runs until Sunday 12 with snooker legends Jimmy White, Ken Doherty and Tony Drago confirmed alongside Seniors Champions from Pan-America, Pan-Asia, Europe and Africa and more. The event will be shown live and exclusively in the UK and Ireland on Channel 5.

Format Change Announced for 2025 World Seniors Snooker Championship

World Seniors Snooker (WSS) is pleased to announce a change to the format of the 2025 World Seniors Snooker Championship which will take place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on 7-11 May.

All rounds up to and including the quarter-finals will now be the best-of-seven frames, while the semi-finals will now best best-of-11 frames and the final will be contested over the best-of-15 frames.

Brazil’s Igor Figueiredo made history for South America by winning the flagship title last May and he will open proceedings on the opening Wednesday afternoon. Jimmy ‘The Whirlwind’ White, a record four-time champion, and two-time runner-up Ken Doherty are both set to begin their campaigns on the afternoon of Thursday 8 May.

Tickets remain available for the World Seniors Championship and start from just £17.50.

I can’t really comment on the first announcement other than stating the obvious: Seniors snooker is determined to stay in Sheffield and to get involved in various projects that will benefit the city, its inhabitants and the Seniors circuit. What’s not to like?

Regarding the second announcement … longer matches, yes, that’s good news to me. It’s also a sign that the seniors involved nowadays in the competition are better than those who played in the “early” instalments of the Seniors World Championship1. One of the reason the matches were so “short” is because the frames tended to be long. Some of the legends involved really struggled to make telling breaks and weren’t really physically fit. Frames tended to last rather long …

Don’t get me wrong: they had every right to be there, they gave it their all and the crowd gave them a very warm support. They promoted the event with all their might and heart. It wouldn’t exist without them and what they did to promote it.

But the event has evolved. The seniors who now compete in it are younger and much fitter. Therefore, it is now reasonable – and desirable – to lengthen the matches a bit. I’m sure that the fans won’t complain!

  1. In his current form, under Jason Francis’ management. ↩︎

Aaron Canavan is the “Race to the Crucible” Event 8 Winner

Aaron Canavan has won back to back “Race To the Crucible” events

Here is the report shared by World Seniors Snooker

Aaron Canavan Secures Back-To-Back Titles

Aaron Canavan defeated Philip Williams 4-2 in the final of the eighth Race to the Crucible Series event at The Crucible Club in Reading, England.

The former World Seniors Snooker Championship winner came through a field of 39 cueists to secure a second consecutive title and boost his hopes of earning a return to the Crucible Theatre in May.

The 49-year-old from Jersey began his weekend in the last 32 stage and he overcame Mark Vincent (4-1) and Steve Crowley (4-0) to reach the concluding day of action.

A whitewash win over former Super Seniors event winner Anthony Harris saw Canavan begin the Sunday in style and he made it back-to-back finals with a 4-1 victory over 51-year-old Nigel Howe.

In the title match he met Williams from Wales, who had reached his third final of the campaign with victories over former professionals Andrew Norman and Gerard Greene on the last day.

The opening three frames of the final saw a 79 break from Canavan countered by a 69 from Williams as the Welshman moved 2-1 ahead in the best-of-seven contest.

Canavan stepped up a gear from then on, however, as he took three straight frames to secure a 4-2 victory and his second title in a row.

PIPE WINS MAIDEN TITLE

Richard Pipe defeated John Hunter 2-0 at The Crucible Club in Reading to win the first Super Seniors title of his career.

The event is open to all cueists over the age of 55 and was held on Sunday alongside the main Race to the Crucible series event.

The 59-year-old Englishman did not drop a single frame across the day as he whitewashed Mark Thomas, David Brock and Andrew Barrett to reach the final.

Hunter, a winner of two events already this season, was his opponent in the title match but he proved no match for Pipe on this occasion as he ran out a 2-0 victor to win the title.

The final Race to the Crucible Series event will take place on 4-6 April at The Crucible Club in Reading, England. 

Congratulations Aaron and Richard

As a result of his successes in the two last events, Aaron Canavan has become the Seniors World Number One for the first time! Follow the link to see the whole Seniors Snooker Ranking list.

Special Days at the 2025 World Seniors Snooker Championship next May

This was announced by World Seniors Snooker:

Youth of Sheffield Day to be Staged During 2025 Seniors Snooker World Championship

World Seniors Snooker (WSS) is pleased to announce that the first ‘Youth of Sheffield Day’ will be staged during the 2025 Seniors Snooker World Championship.

The new initiative will see WSS engage with multiple local youth groups to champion the young people of the steel city and takes place on semi-final Saturday, the 10th May, from the iconic Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

More than 50 young snooker players from the local Stephen Harrison Snooker Academy will be invited to showcase their skills on the morning before being invited to watch the semi-final action unfold on snooker’s most famous stage.

Competitions will also be staged by the academy with the winner set to be presented with their prize at the Crucible Theatre by a legend of the sport.

As well as this collaboration, ‘Youth of Sheffield Day’ will also see Tudor Square full of groups celebrating the city’s youth activities and a partnership with the local universities which will see graduates working alongside WSS on all aspects of the marketing, promotion and TV production of the event.

Stephen Harrison, who runs the academy, said: “We are delighted to be involved in the 2025 World Seniors Championships. The academy has been providing services for the Sheffield community for over 17 years – growing grassroots snooker within our region and around the UK. We currently provide weekly professional snooker coaching and competitions for over 200 of our disabled members.

It is great to be involved in the Youth of Sheffield Day – the children are so excited and cannot wait to attend. I’d like to say a big thank you to Jason Francis and Mike Dunn at World Seniors Snooker for making our junior members dreams come true by getting to visit the Crucible Theatre and feel the intensity of watching a live match at the theatre of dreams.

Mike Dunn, World Seniors Snooker Director, said: “Being able to use the great work Stephen is doing within the city to celebrate the Youth of Sheffield at the World Seniors Championship is brilliant. Snooker is synonymous with the city and helping to develop young talent is so important. I know as a player what it means to play at the Crucible Theatre and I know it will be amazing for these children to watch snooker live here for the first time.”

Youth of Sheffield Day’ follows on from the previous success of ‘Seniors of Sheffield Day’, which is back for the third time on Friday 9th May, and will once again see local members of the aging population invited to meet some snooker legends and watch the matches live.

In addition, a ‘Business of Sheffield Day’ will also be staged during the Championship to champion local business,. This will be staged on Thursday 8th with a business breakfast with 1985 World Snooker Champion Dennis Taylor.

To find out more about how your child can get involved in Youth Day please contact the Stephen Harrison Academy at info@stephenharrisonacademy.com

Tickets remain available for the World Seniors Championship and start from just £17.50.

Farewell to Wael Talaat

The snooker community, and the Egyptian snooker community in particular, is in mourning. Yesterday we lost Wael Talaat. Wael was a very, very good player and extremely respected in his country Egypt. He certainly inspired many young Egyptian apiring snooker player.

He was briefly professional in 1998 but he was mainly known for being a triple African Snooker Champion, as well as a four more times African Snooker Championship runner-up.

Wael became famous on 20th of June 2014 for making the first ever 83 break in a 6-reds remarkable competitive match1. Wael’s opponent, Milad Elabbar of Libya, failed to make contact with a red on the break off and the cue ball landed behind the blue ball. Wael was awarded a free ball. He nominated the blue as free ball, potted it and potted the black to follow. From there he cleared the table the table, taking the black with each red. It was a trulu memorable match as Wael’s opponent was actually well and truly whitewashed: he didn’t score a single point all match. Wael won all four frames, each time taking the first opportunity to score. The final result was 71(71)-00, 87(83)-00, 36-00 and 46(46)-00.

Wael played in the 2022 World Seniors Championship at the Crucible, beating Maria Catalano  by 3-0, before losing by 0-3 to Jimmy White in the last 16.

Sleep tight Wael, we will miss you!

  1. It happened during an IBFS Championship ↩︎

Hassan Kerde from Australia is 2025 Crucible bound

Hassan Kerde has secured his Crucible place by taking the Asia-Pacific Crown

Here is the report shared by WPBSA

Australia’s Hassan Kerde defeated Matthew Scarborough 4-2 in the final of the 2025 Asia-Pacific Seniors Snooker Championship to earn a place at the World Seniors Snooker Championship in May.

The 41-year-old cueist will compete at the iconic Crucible Theatre in Sheffield after becoming the latest continental champion – joining Craig Steadman (Europe), Fabio Anderson Luersen (Americas) and Charl Jonck (Africa).

A total of 43 players contested the event which was staged at the Club Forster in New South Wales, Australia and began with an initial group phase.

Kerde dropped just a single frame across four matches in a group that included former professional Robby Foldvari to book his place in the last 16 where he then downed Allen House 3-1.

Breaks of 63, 80 and 45 helped the Australian pick up further wins over David Wright (3-1) and Ian Barber (3-0) to reach the title match where he would face Scarborough.

The man from New Zealand, who won a WPBSA Q Tour Asia-Pacific title earlier this season, had eliminated Ian Davies, Mark Hannah and Foldvari in the knockout stages to set up a showdown with Kerde.

Kerde made a strong start to the best-of-seven frame final contest as he raced into a 3-0 lead to move one away from the title.

His opponent refused to go down without a fight and rallied by taking the next two reduce his deficit to just a single frame, but the Australian cueist was able to hold his nerve and take frame six by a scoreline of 75-32 to take the title and earn a place at the World Seniors Snooker Championship later this year.

Congratulations Hassan Kerde!

see you in Sheffield in May … hopefully!

Aaron Canavan is the 2025 “Race to the Crucible” Event 7 Winner

Aarron Canavan won the World Seniors Snooker Championship in 2018

Here is the report shared by WPBSA

Canavan is the Champion in Reading

Aaron Canavan defeated Andrew Norman 4-3 in the final of the seventh Race to the Crucible Series event at The Crucible Club in Reading, England.

The 2018 World Seniors Snooker champion boosted his hopes of a return to the flagship event at the Crucible Theatre by winning his first event of the season in Berkshire. The deciding frame victory for Canavan also denied Norman a fourth successive title in the Race to the Crucible Series.

Thirty-two competitors from five nations contested the two-day event and Canavan defeated Tam Mustafa (4-2) and former English Seniors champion Lee Stephens (4-3) to reach the final day.

A comfortable 4-1 defeat of Northern Ireland’s Billy Ginn earned a semi-final spot against World Seniors Snoooker’s world number one Wayne Townsend, who he overcame 4-2 to reach a final for the first time this season.

Norman’s seemingly unstoppable form continued over the weekend as he dropped just four frames in four games en route to the title match, last defeating Nigel Howe 4-1 at the semi-final stage.

In a high-quality final, the defending champion raced into a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven frame contest with breaks of 56 and 72. Canavan quickly rallied, however, to level before hitting a tournament high break of 111 to move one away from the title.

The two finalists went blow-for-blow as Norman once again hit back to deservedly force a deciding frame. Fittingly, the title was ultimately decided by a single point as Canavan made a half-century to win the seventh frame by a scoreline of 62-61.

Back-to-Back Super Seniors Titles for Harris

Anthony Harris beat David Brock 2-1 in the final of the Super Series event to win a second consecutive title.

The event is open to all cueists over the age of 55 and was held on Sunday alongside the main Race to the Crucible series event.

The 56-year-old from England was one of 15 cueists involved in the one-day competition and beat Neil Carroll (2-1) and Karl Townsend (2-1) to reach the last four.

His semi-final opponent was the current Super Seniors number one and this season’s double-event winner John Hunter. Harris’ fine form continued as he ran out a 2-1 victor with a top break of 56 to reach the title match.

Fellow countryman David Brock had dropped just a single frame en route to the final and took the opener in the best-of-three frame contest. Harris hit back, however, to force a decider before taking frame three to secure a third Super Seniors title of the campaign.

The penultimate Race to the Crucible Series event will take place on 7-9 March at The Crucible Club in Reading, England

Congratulations Aaron and Anthony

Andrew Norman did it again…

Andrew Norman did it again over the last week-end, he won the “Race to the Crucible” Event 6.

That makes it three “Race to the Crucible” wins in a row … Here is the report by WPBSA:

Andrew Norman defeated Gerard Greene 4-2 in the final of the sixth ‘Race to the Crucible Series’ event at the Crucible Club in Newbury to win a third consecutive title.

The 44-year-old Englishman has now won three events in a row as he remains dominant in his bid to secure a return to the iconic Crucible Theatre for the World Seniors Championship in May.

Norman arrived in Newbury on the back of eleven straight victories in the series and continued his fine form with back-to-back whitewash wins over Rob Lymath and Ashley Beal to reach the quarter-finals.

The concluding day of action featured eight players, including previous event winners Norman, Dharminder Lilly and Alfie Burden, from the initial field of 51.

Norman compiled the tournament high break of 125 during his quarter-final whitewash victory against Mark Vincent as he set up a last four meeting with Burden without dropping a frame en route.

After Norman took the first two frames to extend his streak to 14 successive frames across the weekend, Burden hit back and won three in a row to move one away from victory at 3-2.

The man from Bristol showed his battling qualities, however, to force a decider before getting over the line in frame seven to reach a third straight final.

In the title match he faced Northern Ireland’s Greene, who had overcome the world number one Wayne Townsend and event three champion Lilly on the final day.

Greene opened the final with a half-century break but Norman rallied and moved one away from the title as he took a 3-1 lead.

The Northern Irishman reduced his deficit by taking a tight fifth frame, but it proved to be too late as Norman won the next by a scoreline of 60-26 to complete a hat-trick of titles.

HARRIS WINS SECOND SUPER SENIORS TITLE

Anthony Harris defeated Richard Pipe 2-1 in the Super Seniors final in Newbury to win his second title of the season.

The event is open to all cueists over the age of 55 and was held on Sunday alongside the main Race to the Crucible series event.

A total of 15 players were involved and Harris beat Kevin Willsher, Ian Desmier and David Moritz without dropping a frame to reach the title match.

Pipe took the opener before Harris hit back to force a deciding frame in the final. The 56-year-old saved his best snooker for the most important moment as he compiled a break of 98 to complete the victory.

Event seven of the Race to the Crucible series takes place on 7-9 February at The Crucible Club in Reading. 

Congratulations Andrew and Anthony!

Ken Doherty has won the World Seniors Snooker 900 event in Epsom yesterday

Ken Doherty has won the very last snooker event of the year yesterday in Epsom.

Here is the report by WSS:

KEN DOHERTY WINS SECOND MR VEGAS WORLD SENIORS SNOOKER 900 TITLE IN EPSOM

Ken Doherty defeated Tony Drago in a dramatic blue ball shootout to win the Mr Vegas World Seniors Snooker 900 title at Epsom Downs Racecourse.

The victory means Doherty becomes the first player to win multiple titles under the World Seniors Snooker 900 format following his emotional success at Goffs earlier in the year.

Six players embarked on Epsom for the fourth edition of the unique and exciting event with Alfie Burden, Nigel Bond and Rory McLeod each making their debuts while Doherty, Drago and four-time World Seniors champion Jimmy White returned.

In a repeat of the final at Goffs last March, Doherty met White in the opening match of Group B. ‘The Whirlwind’ was looking to exact revenge after ‘The Darling of Dublin’ had defeated him in that title match and a 55 clearance saw White make the perfect start to the afternoon.

A win for 1995 world finalist and former British Open champion Bond over White on the final black then set up a dramatic conclusion to the group.

Doherty was able to advance to the semi-finals by overcoming the debutant and scoring a high break of two more points, while White topped the group courtesy of his half-century under the tie-break rules.

In Group A, Burden made a confident start to life under the World Seniors Snooker 900 format as he comfortably overcame both McLeod and Drago to reach the knockout stages as group winner. ‘The Tornado’ from Malta then beat McLeod to complete the semi-final line-up.

Both group winners were toppled at the semi-final stage as Burden was defeated by Doherty, while White was denied a fourth consecutive final by Drago.

Drago, who was competing in his maiden final under the format, made the perfect start to the best-of-three contest by firing in the day’s high break of 93 in the opener.

The Maltese cueist was in first in the second frame but broke down on 31, allowing Doherty to force a decider with a break of 56.

Another break of 56 saw Doherty take the initiative in the decider but Drago impressively held his nerve to clear the table and tie the frame – meaning a blue ball shootout would decide who took home the trophy.

The two players each potted the blue ball on their first attempt and it was Drago who was first to blink and he put his second effort wide of the target.

After taking a moment to compose himself, Doherty confidently fired home the title-winning blue ball to secure his second World Seniors Snooker 900 crown.

After the final, Doherty said: “I’m absolutely delighted! I wasn’t expecting it – I flew in this morning on a 7am flight. I love playing in the 900, I love the concept of it and it was a great final. To play Tony in the final was just amazing and to go down to the blue ball shoot out was was incredible.

I was just thinking when he potted the first blue in the shoot out – ‘just try and cue it, don’t twitch and put your elbow in the front row!’ Then, when he missed the second one, I was just thinking the same and it just went right in the middle and I said ‘yeah’ before it even went in. It was a lovely moment.

Looking ahead to the 2025 World Seniors Snooker Championship, which has eluded Doherty so far in his illustrious career, he reflected: “I’ve been beaten in a couple of finals – last year against Igor (Figueiredo) and of course against Jimmy White when I was 4-0 up and I collapsed like a cheap tent but we won’t mention that! I’d love to win it but, if I don’t, it doesn’t matter – I’ve been very lucky and blessed in my life by playing the game that I love. I’m still playing it and I still love it!

I can’t be certain who took yje great images but I spotted my friend Andy Chubb on the floor …

It was enjoyable as always. I like the format and obviously the players like it as well. The team in commentary and on the floor did a sterling job as always. Thank You Jason and everyone involved!

Here are some more pictures shared by Jason Francis on Twitter as the action unfolded

Race to the Crucible – Andrew Norman has won Event 5

Andrew Norman has won back to back “Race to the Crucible” events …

Norman Goes Back-To-Back in Reading

Andrew Norman defeated Dean Galbally 4-3 in the final of the fifth ‘Race to the Crucible Series’ event to secure a second consecutive title.

A total of 42 cueists took part in the event which was staged at The Crucible Club in Reading. Among those in action were previous event winners Alfie Burden, Dharminder Lilly and Norman as well as former World Seniors Championship winners Aaron Canavan and Lee Walker.

Norman, who won the previous event last month, began his campaign in the last 32 stage and overcame Bulgaria’s Ivan Kyupov 4-1 before securing a 4-2 victory over fellow countryman Daniel Stott to book his place in the final day.

Anthony Harris, who compiled the tournament high break of 121 on the opening day, was Norman’s opponent in the last eight stage and it was the event four champion that ran out a 4-1 victor to set up a semi-final meeting with Burden.

The two previous event winners went blow for blow in the early stages as the first four frames were shared, before a break of 77 saw Norman move one frame away from the final at 3-2 ahead.

Norman was then able to take the sixth frame to reach a second consecutive final in as many months.

His opponent in the title match was 40-year Gallaby, who had reached his first final of the season by defeating Matthew Ford and new World Seniors Snooker world number one Wayne Townsend on the final day.

Galbally led the best-of-seven frame frame both 2-0 and 3-2, but the former professional rallied to force a deciding frame at The Crucible Club before getting over the line to win his second title of the campaign.

Super Seniors Glory for Milliard

Andy Milliard defeated John Hunter 2-1 in the final of the latest Super Seniors event in Reading.

The event is open to all cueists over the age of 55 and was held on Sunday alongside the main Race to the Crucible series event.

Eighteen players competed in the event and Milliard dropped just a single frame en route to the final as he beat Simon Chandler, Dennis Tristram, Andy Booker and David Moritz.

He trailed Hunter 1-0 in the best-of-three frame final but held his nerve to secure the next two frames and take home his first Super Seniors title of the season.

Following this event the Seniors rankings have been updated:

WSS Rankings | Event Five Update

The World Seniors Snooker (WSS) ranking lists have been updated following the fifth event of the Race to the Crucible series at The Crucible Club in Reading last weekend.

The top two players on the official WSS ranking list, as well as the top two on the ‘Race to the Crucible’ one-year list will earn their places in the World Seniors Championship, and they will be joined by the winner of a ‘Top 16 Shootout’ event – where players ranked between third and tenth on each list will compete for the final place.

One point is awarded for each frame won at an event and, should the same players sit in the top two of both rankings lists, then the official world rankings would take priority.

Townsend in Top Spot

Wayne Townsend is the new World Seniors Snooker (WSS) world number one following a run to the final of the latest event in Reading last weekend.

He holds an eleven point advantage over Stuart Watson, who has climbed back into the automatic Crucible qualification positions despite falling at the last 16 stage of event five.

A second successive title for Andrew Norman boosts him a further five places to third, just three points behind Watson, while event three winner Dharminder Lilly drops from joint-first to fourth in the ranking list.

Former World Seniors champion Aaron Canavan (5th) and event one champion Alfie Burden (7th) remain among a top ten that is made up by Philip Williams, Nigel Howe, Gerard Greene and Gary Filtness.

TOWNSEND TAKES THE LEAD

The continued consistency of Wayne Townsend has seen him also rise to first place in the ‘Race to the Crucible’ series ranking list after reaching the semi-finals last weekend in Reading.

Despite not yet taking home a title this season, Townsend has reached at least the quarter-finals of four of the five events staged so far and climbs to the summit of the rankings for the first time as a result.

Event three winner Dharminer Lilly, who fell in the last 16 of the latest event, drops to second place – three points behind the new leader.

Back-to-back champion Andrew Norman enters the top ten for the first time as he climbs a further five positions to eighth on the latest ranking list.

The remainder of the top ten at this stage is made up of Philip Williams, Aaron Canavan, Alfie Burden, Gerard Greene, Anthony Harris, Matthew Ford and Nigel Howe.

HUNTER FURTHERS THE LEAD

John Hunter has furthered his advantage at the top of the Super Seniors ranking list following a run to the final in Reading last weekend.

The 58-year-old Englishman now leads second-placed Mukesh Parmar by 13 points, while David Brock, Dennis Tristram and Ian Desmier make up the remainder of the top five after five events.

A first title of the season for Andy Milliard sees him jump to 14th position in the Super Seniors ranking list – just two points away from entering the top ten.

Event six of the Race to the Crucible series takes place on 17-19 January at The Crucible Club in Newbury. Enter now!

Congratulations to Andrew, Wayne and John!

Race to the Crucible – Andrew Norman wins Event 4

Andrew Norman, once a constant friendly presence at the now defunct South West Snooker Academy, behind the bar and around the table is a player I have sorely missed on tour and as a friend. Passing time and geographical distance … but hopefully I will be able to reconnect once again with him at the Crucible next May as .he just won the Race to the Crucible Event 4

Congratulations Andrew Norman!

Here is the report shared by WSS after the “Race t the Crucible Event 4”

ANDREW NORMAN BOOSTS HOPES OF CRUCIBLE RETURN

Andrew Norman defeated Philip Williams 4-3 in the final of the fourth ‘Race to the Crucible’ series event at The Crucible Club in Reading.

Norman, who is bidding for  a return to the World Seniors Championship after making his debut at the event last May, trailed 3-1 in the final but breaks of 50 and 82 helped the former professional get over the line on a dramatic final day that featured six deciders.

The 44-year-old becomes the fourth different winner of an event on the new ‘Race to the Crucible’ series, which offers direct qualification to next year’s flagship event, after Alfie Burden, Rory McLeod and Dharminder Lilly each picked up titles earlier in the season.

A heartbreaking defeat in a deciding frame to four-time World Seniors champion Jimmy White earlier this year had left Norman eager to return to snooker’s most iconic venue and he made an impressive start to this latest qualification event as he fired in a break of 130, the highest of the weekend, in a whitewash victory over Nick O’Sullivan in the opening round.

Victories over David Athorn and Nigel Howe then saw him reach the quarter-finals and the concluding day of action in Berkshire.

Breaks of 67, 51 and 108 saw Norman overcome Andy Lavin with an impressive display to join a strong last four line-up that also featured 2018 World Seniors champion Aaron Canavan and former professionals Gerard Greene and Philip Williams.

Northern Ireland’s Greene was the semi-final opponent for Norman and he led 2-0 and 3-2 in the best-of-seven frame contest, but he was unable to get over the line as the Englishman took the deciding frame by a scoreline of 56-9.

Awaiting in the final was Williams after the Welshman had also come through a final frame decider against Canavan to reach the title match.

For Williams, it was a second ‘Race to the Crucible’ event final of the season having lost to McLeod in September, and he looked set to go one better on this occasion as he raced into a 3-1 lead to move one frame from glory.

Norman held his nerve, however, as two half-century breaks saw him force a deciding frame before he took the title on the final black in frame seven.

HARRIS WINS MAIDEN SUPER SENIORS CROWN

Anthony Harris defeated Karl Townsend 2-0 in the final of the latest Super Seniors event to win the title for the first time in his career.

The event is open to all cueists over the age of 55 and was held on Sunday alongside the main Race to the Crucible series event.

A total of 20 competitors took part and Harris defeated Brian Sharpe, Andrew Barrett, defending champion John Hunter and Graham Beardmore to reach the title match – where he overcame Townsend with a whitewash victory to take home the trophy.

Event five of the Race to the Crucible series takes place on 13-15 December at The Crucible Club in Reading. You can still enter it by following this link