A “super-seniors” event featuring 19 players was also held at the same venue over the week-end. It was won by Andy Milliard who beat Andrew Norman by 2-0 in the final.
Steadman Seals Crucible Return with European Glory
Craig Steadman defeated Mark Joyce 5-3 in the final of the EBSA European Seniors Snooker Championship in Golem, Albania.
Glory in Golem saw the 43-year-old Englishman successfully defend his title and earn a return to the iconic Crucible Theatre for the 2026 World Seniors Snooker Championship.
A field of 78 players embarked on the Grand Blue Fafa Resort for the individual Seniors event, organised by the European Billiards & Snooker Association (EBSA), and Steadman made a strong start to his title defence with a clean sweep of victories over Shane Gorman, Olivier Pechenart and Olsi Hysa.
The Englishman, who faced Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Crucible Theatre during his professional career, then overcame Marcin Nitschke (4-1), Kevin Hanssens (4-2) and Gary Thomson (4-2) to set up a semi-final meeting with Wales’ Philip Williams.
Steadman started strongly with visits of 63 and 65, but Williams hit back to restore parity at 2-2 with a break of 60.
Two scrappier frames followed but it was the Englishman who was able to take them and join fellow countryman Joyce in the title match.
Joyce had beaten former world number eight Darren Morgan in the semi-finals and showed excellent scoring form in the final as he made breaks of 110 and 117.
It was Steadman, however, who took home the title after taking the opener with a break of 83 and then never falling behind as he went on to secure a 5-3 victory.
Stuart Bingham Completes British Seniors Open Line-Up
World Seniors Snooker (WSS) is delighted to announce that the 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham will complete the field for the British Seniors Open at Vaillant Live in Derby on 26-28 December 2025 which will be shown live on Channel 5.
Known as ‘Ballrun’, the former world champion makes his WSS Tour debut alongside Matthew Stevens and Anthony Hamilton who join Jimmy White, Ken Doherty, Joe Perry, Dominic Dale and reigning World Seniors champion Alfie Burden.
Bingham said “It is a great privilege to be invited to play in the British Seniors Open. I am really looking forward to being one of the youngest playing for a change and not one of the oldest! It is a fresh direction playing in Derby and having Channel 5 broadcasting the event. Exciting times ahead!”
Jason Francis, WSS Chairman, said “It is exciting times for seniors snooker with three decorated players making their debuts in Derby. Stuart is a former world and Masters champion who was number two in the world as recently as 2017, so he will come into this event as one of the favourites for sure”
In a way that may surprise many, the fact that WST and WSS couldn’t come to an agreement means that professionals who meet the “age criteria” are now free to compete in the Seniors Tour events provided that there is no “calendar clash” with the Main Tour events. This is why we are seing “new faces” in Seniors events, which is very welcome. Those players, who are still competing on the main tour, play at a very high standard, of course, and we are going to see very high quality matches on the Seniors tour as a result.
Igor Figueiredo Wins Pan American Seniors Title to Earn Crucible Return
Igor Figueiredo defeated Noel Rodrigues Moreira 4-1 in the final of the 2025 Pan American Seniors Snooker Championship at the Aryan Snooker Club in Sacramento, California.
Success for Figueiredo earns him a place in the 2026 World Seniors Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre – the iconic venue where he defeated Ken Doherty in the 2024 final to win the biggest title of his career to date.
The Brazilian defeated his fellow countryman to lift the continental seniors crown for the second time in three years, having also won the title in 2023 on home soil in Rio de Janeiro.
Figueiredo kicked off the event in style with an opening day break of 141, the highest of the tournament, and went on to top the six-player group phase with a clean sweep of victories and no frames dropped.
Knockout round wins against the American duo of Steven Wong (3-0) and Daren Mark Taylor (4-1) saw the 47-year-old join an all-Brazilian semi-final line-up alongside Itaro Santos, Moreira and defending champion Fabio Anderson Luersen.
A top break of 44 was enough for Figueiredo to defeat fellow former professional Santos 4-1 in the last four to set up a title match meeting with Moreira after he had been victorious by the same scoreline.
Figueiredo raced into a 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven frame final with contributions of 35 and 62 and, despite a brief rally from Moreira, a further break of 60 saw the Brazilian get over the line as a 4-1 winner to secure the title.
There is no doubts that this is good news for many fans. Igor is a “character” in the best “meaning” of that word. He has a huge presence, he plays entertaining snooker and plays it well, he’s (almost) always smiling and his positive energy is contagious. What’s not to like?1
Anthony Hamilton Joins British Seniors Open Line-Up
World Seniors Snooker (WSS) is delighted to announce that former ranking event winner Anthony Hamilton is the latest player to join the field for the 2025 British Seniors Open.
‘The Sheriff of Pottingham’ was on the World Snooker Tour (WST) for an unbroken 34-year spell, spending 15 years inside the top 32.
Between 2002 and 2007, Hamilton reached the quarter finals of the World Championship on four occasions and was a ranking event champion as recently as 2017 when he captured the German Masters crown.
Hamilton said: “The British Seniors Open sounds like a brilliant event and it is an honour to be invited to play in it and renew some old rivalries.”
Jason Francis, Chairman of WSS, said: “Anthony only retired from the main tour in May, following three decades as a professional player. He is exactly the type of servant to the game who deserves this chance to compete in a TV event on the World Seniors Snooker Tour. I can see this announcement being very well received as he remains such a popular player in the sport.”
The British Seniors Open will take place at Vaillant Live in Derby on 26-28 December 2025 and be shown live on Channel 5.
Over time I have read so many disparaging comments about Anthony… that he’s weird, that he’s filthy, and more. None of that is true. He’s a very interesting character, he’s very clever, very knowledgeable about his sport, he’s kind1 … but a bit shy. He is a great addition to the Seniors tour.
unless you disturb him when at the table on a break 😉 ↩︎
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.
Alfie Burden beat Aaron Canavan by 8 frames to 4 this afternoon to become the 2025 World Seniors Snooker Champion. The match was played in good spirit … and an unusual format. Indeed it featured two intervals – after four and eight frames – and was refereed by Michaela Tab, before the first interval, and by Proletina Velichkova after the first interval to the finish.
Michaela is retiring from snooker but will continue to referee in the “900” competitions for the time being.
Thank you for everything Michaela! We love you!
It was an emotional win for Alfie who had lost in the 2023 Final to Jimmy White. Lifting the trophy, surrounded by his children and friends meant everything to Alfie and it showed! His opponent, Aaron Canavan, who had won this title in 2018, was the first to congratulate him.. Aaron is a great player and a huge credit to his sport: at the table he gives it is all, when the match is over, win or lose, he’s always gracious.
Congratulations Alfie Burden!
and to Aaron Canavan, for a great run and for being such a great sportsman.
Image by Zheng Zai
PS: I will add my own images tomorrow, or on Tuesday. I’m traveling back to Greece tomorrow and need some rest…
Alfie Burden defeated Matthew Ford 4-3 in the Golden Ticket Play-Off to secure the final place at the 2025 JenningsBet World Seniors Snooker Championship.
The 48-year-old Englishman will face Jimmy White at the Crucible Theatre in a repeat of the 2023 World Seniors Snooker Championship final after coming through a field of 16 players in Reading last weekend.
The Play-Off line-up was made up top eight ranked players who did not qualify automatically for the flagship event in each of the official two-year world ranking list and the one-year ‘Race to the Crucible Series’ ranking list.
Burden had missed out on an automatic place at the Championship by just a single frame in the concluding qualification event of the season but bounced back in the Golden Ticket Play-Off event.
Victories over Andy Lavin (4-2), Irish former professional Rodney Goggins (4-1) and Stuart Watson (4-1) saw Burden book his place in the final where he faced compatriot Ford.
The 49-year-old had dropped just three frames in as many matches en route to the final and a break of 67 in frame five put Ford just one away from victory and a Crucible debut.
Burden refused to be beaten, however, forcing a decider before getting over the line by a 78-46 scoreline to complete the victory and earn a return to snooker’s most iconic venue.
The order of play for the 2025 JenningsBet World Seniors Snooker Championship has been confirmed following yesterday’s draw made live on Channel 5.
The event will take place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on 7-11 May with 16 players from nine nations competing for the flagship title on the World Seniors Snooker tour.
Every ball will be available to watch live on Channel 5 in the UK with a new, extended format announced for the 2025 edition of the competition which sees all matches up to the semi-finals stage now being best of seven frames while the semi-finals are now best of 11 and the final contested over the best of 15 frames.
The tournament begins on Wednesday afternoon with former ranking event champions Joe Perry and Dominic Dale making their respective World Seniors Snooker bows against Brazil’s Fabio Anderson Luersen and England’s Craig Steadman.
Reigning champion Igor Figueiredo will begin the defence of his crown against Crucible debutant Wayne Townsend on Wednesday evening to be followed by fellow former World Seniors Snooker champion Aaron Canavan taking on Andrew Norman.
In what is sure to be a highly anticipated session on Thursday afternoon, four-time champion Jimmy ‘The Whirlwind’ White meets the winner of the upcoming Golden Ticket play-off before 1997 world champion Ken Doherty goes head-to-head with African Seniors champion Charl Jonck.
The opening round then concludes on Thursday evening with Tony ‘The Tornado’ Drago from Malta taking on Northern Ireland’s Gerard Green before Tony Knowles meets Australia’s Hassan Kerde.
The final will take place on Sunday 11 May.
Contrary to what happens in the WST Tour World Championship, the defending champion will not play in the opening session of the tournament. Igor will play his match in the evening session of the first day.
It’s a sensible schedule as, of course, more people are free in the evenings than in the afternoons.
Ken Doherty joined World Seniors Snooker (WSS) Chairman Jason Francis yesterday at Greystones Primary School in Sheffield to launch two initiatives which will form part of the ‘Youth of Sheffield Day’ for the World Seniors Snooker Championship.
On Saturday 10 May, 200 local children will attend the semi-finals courtesy of WSS and Sheffield City Council as part of their ‘Sheffield Loves Snooker’ campaign.
Children will get a chance to bring a grandparent to the Crucible Theatre as well as taking part in a snooker themed art competition which will be judged by 1997 world champion Doherty. The artwork will be displayed in the venue during the whole event which runs from the 7-11 May and follows on from the World Snooker Championship.
Doherty said: ”It was fantastic to meet the pupils today to tell them what Sheffield and the Crucible Theatre means to me and to also answer their questions about what it was like to win the World Championship in 1997. The plan for them to treat their grandparents to a day at the World Seniors Championship is brilliant and its great to see WSS engaging with so many local schools around the art competition.”
Jason Francis, WSS Chairman, said “The Youth of Sheffield Day is one of a number of projects we are running this year based around showcasing what is great about the steel city and the home of snooker. Semi-final Saturday will see Tudor Square full of local children and hopefully feeling the atmosphere of snooker at the Crucible could be the spark to encourage them to try the game themselves.”
Sinead Gaffney, Headteacher at Greystones Primary School said: “Everyone at Greystones loved meeting Ken today. It was a great opportunity for our children to learn more about the links between Sheffield and snooker, thanks to the Crucible’s role of hosting the World Championship.”
“Everyone wants to give snooker a go now and Ken’s message of working hard and aiming high is a brilliant model for every child, wherever their talents lie! Whether the children’s families have longstanding roots in the city, or if they are relative newcomers like myself, here’s another reason to feel proud of our wonderful city of Sheffield” she added.
This is really a great way, not just to promote the event, but to make it an opportunity for persons of different generations to spend time together, united by their love of sport and snooker in particular. Ken is the perfect ambassador for the endeavour. He loves his sport deeply and is a great communicator.
The WPBSA World Seniors Tour 