South Africa’s Charl Jonck defeated fellow countryman Mutalieb Allie 4-2 in the final of the 2024 African Seniors Championship in Johannesburg.
Jonck was in stunning form during the event, dropping just three frames and compiling the high break of 128 as he earned the title and a place at the Crucible Theatre for next May’s World Seniors Championship.
Organised by the African Billiards & Snooker Confederation (ABSC), the African Seniors Championship is staged as part of the All-African Snooker Championships with the winner of the main singles competition receiving a two-year World Snooker Tour (WST) tour card.
A total of 28 cueists from four nations competed in the Seniors event with an initial group stage narrowing the field down to a final 16 in the knockout phase.
Eventual champion Jonck was in fine form throughout the competition and dominated his group with a clean sweep of 3-0 victories and a stunning tournament high break of 128.
A break of 72 helped Jonck to defeat Latchman Moodley 3-0 in the first knockout round before a further whitewash victory over Mervyn Donnely secured his place in the last four.
Morocco’s Naitali Mourad became the first player to take a frame off the dominant Jonck, but the South African once again proved too strong as he ran out a 4-1 winner to set up a final with fellow countryman Allie.
Allie, who had dropped just a single frame en route to the title match, gave Jonck his toughest test in a high quality affair which saw the two players split four half-century breaks between them.
However, a top break of 92 saw Jonck secure the African Seniors Championship crown and an invitation to compete in the World Seniors Championship as he ran out a 4-2 winner.
This was announced yesterday by Jason Francis on social media and is now reported on the WSS official site:
World Seniors Snooker Championship Shootout Qualifying Event Unveiled
World Seniors Snooker (WSS) is delighted to announce that an additional qualification place will be made available to tour players at the 2025 World Seniors Snooker Championship following a change in the qualifying criteria
The top two players on the official World Seniors Snooker ranking list, as well as the top two on the ‘Race to the Crucible’ one-year list will earn their places in the Crucible Theatre, as previously announced, and they will now be joined by the winner of a newly announced ‘Top 16 Shootout’ event.
The 16 players qualifying for this new event will be those ranked between 3rd and 10th on both lists with the official ranking list taking precedence at all times.
Jason Francis, Chairman of WSS, said: “We want to be a tour that listens to its members. We have listened and we have reacted and it now the fight is not just for the top two spots on each ranking list, but also for the top ten.”
A full list of dates and venues can be found below:
2024
9-11 August (Reading)
27-29 September (Reading)
11-13 October (Reading)
22-24 November (Reading)
13-15 December (Reading)
2025
17-19 January (Newbury)
7-9 February (Reading)
7-9 March (Reading)
4-6 April (Reading)
Amateur players must be 40 on or before the first days play in each event, while professionals ranked outside the top 64 at the start of the 2024/25 season must be over 45 on or before the first days play.
Entries for all events are now open at WPBSA SnookerScores and will close seven days prior to each event.
There is no doubt that Jason is investing himself 100% to further develop the Seniors Snooker Tour, a tour that badly suffered from the covid crisis and its aftermath. In the early years the tour relied a lot on the past legends of the sport. Those players have earned the privilege and are still attracting a lot of fans. But it’s not viable as a long term strategy of course and – to make it worse – some of the oldest players on the main tour stubbornly continue to play very wel, sit at the top of the rankings and refuse to retire. The rascals! 😡😉
Jimmy White, Stephen Hendry and Ken Doherty will be among those in action when the Mr Vegas World Seniors Snooker 900 heads to the Connexin Live in Hull on Sunday 8 September.
The event, which will be broadcast live on Channel 5, will bring some of the most decorated names in the sport to the city for the third edition of the Mr Vegas World Seniors Snooker 900, following victory for seven-time world champion Hendry in Epsom and an emotional success for Doherty on home soil at Goffs in March.
Reigning World Seniors champion Igor Figueiredo, ‘The Tornado’ Tony Drago and Barry Pinches also feature in the line-up at the former home of the UK Seniors Championship in East Yorkshire.
Jason Francis, Chairman of World Seniors Snooker said, “It is brilliant to return to Hull, a city that has welcomed World Seniors Snooker with open arms for many years. The field contains the four players who contested the semi-finals of the recent Mr Vegas World Seniors Championship at the iconic Crucible Theatre, as well as two icons of the game in Jimmy White and Stephen Hendry.”
Tickets start from just £10 and offer the opportunity to enjoy an afternoon of top class snooker played under the exciting ‘900’ format, with each frame only lasting a maximum of 15 minutes (900 seconds).
Former world champion Dennis Taylor will also be in Hull as part of the TV commentary team and will host a special ‘VIP Legends Lunch’ which will see snooker fans enjoy a champagne two course meal and a front row seat for the action.
WSS Chairman Jason Francis will go live later tonight to chat through todays news and also will answer any questions tour members or snooker followers wish to ask about any aspect of the Seniors. Feel free to leave your questions here today and he can answer them tonight at around 7pm live on this page.
Ken Doherty and Igor Figueiredo will meet in the final of the 2024 Mr Vegas World Seniors Championship final after both won their semi-finals by a 4-1 scoreline on Saturday afternoon at the Crucible Theatre.
Both players are aiming to lift the World Seniors title for the first time in their career and they will face off on Sunday afternoon in a best-of-nine frame title match.
Doherty is now one victory away from the completion of an historic ‘grand slam’ which would see him add the Seniors crown alongside the World Under-21, World Amateur and World Professional titles he won in 1989 and 1997 respectively.
Meanwhile, Figueiredo becomes the first ever cueist from outside of Europe to reach the final of the tournament and success against Doherty would represent the biggest victory of the 46-year-old’s career.
UNSTOPPABLE IGOR FIRES THROUGH
Figueiredo gave the finest performance of the tournament so far to wrap up a 4-1 victory over ‘The Tornado’ Tony Drago with back-to-back century breaks.
The high-scoring nature of the contest may have come as a surprise to those watching the opening frame which was a nervy affair and saw neither player able to build up any rhythm as the Brazilian took it on the final blue.
The break-building quickly arrived for both players as Drago levelled the game with a break of 69 before Figueiredo restored his advantaged with his first half-century of the afternoon.
A stunning break of 110 from Figueiredo, the first century break of this year’s tournament, moved the Brazilian one frame away from the final and he charged over the line in emphatic fashion by firing in a 119 to complete the victory with impressive back-to-back centuries.
After reaching Sunday’s final, Figueiredo said: “I am very happy – I played very well in the last two frames. Two century breaks is not bad for myself! I am very happy to get into the final.
The Brazilian credits his wife Camilla for his upturn in form and he said after the victory: “My wife is my heart, she inspires me a lot and gives me power and support. My life changed after my wife and I do everything for her.”
CRAFTY KEN INTO SECOND SENIORS FINAL
Doherty booked his place in a first Mr Vegas World Seniors Championship final since 2020 by defeating Barry Pinches 4-1 in the semi-final.
The Irishman offered his best performance of the event so far and will be aiming to quash the memories of his last World Seniors final, when he led Jimmy White 4-0 at the Crucible before succumbing to a 5-4 defeat.
There was clear tension early on in the contest with the first frame taking over half an hour before Doherty crucially took it on the final black.
The 1997 World champion ultimately needed three visits to take the second frame, but eventually got over the line, before an unexpected miss from an out-of-sorts Pinches allowed Doherty to move one away from victory at 3-0.
The Englishman briefly rallied to pull a frame back at 3-1, but it was too little too late as ‘The Darling of Dublin’ completed the victory in frame five to set up a Sunday afternoon final meeting with Figueiredo.
“I got off to a good start by winning that black ball game and I’m thrilled to bits to get through to the final” Doherty reflected post-match.
“It was a really tough match and I’m a bit jaded but just so excited about tomorrow and the final against Igor Figueiredo.
“I’m not going to count any chickens, I’m just going to go out and play my best and give it all I can. I definitely want to win this tournament, it’s one I want to tick off my list, but I have a very tough opponent in front of me.”
Tony Drago beat Stuart Watson by 3-1 and you will find the frames scores for that match here. Tony started very impressively: he won the first frame in no time and in one scoring visit with a break of 91. It proved to be the only big break of the match as the next three frames were extremely close and “fragmented”. I spoke briefly to Stuart after the match and he was absolutely devastated, maybe not as much about the outcome as he was about his performance. Stuart is currently the Seniors number one, he has never been a pro. He qualified for this event by winning a lot of matches on the Seniors tour. Stuart and other senior players like him deserve much better than the scorn the “other number one”, Mark Allen, showed for the event yesterday on twitter… It could be you here in a few years Mark, and delighted to be part of it as well. Time catches up with everyone.
Anyway… here are the images taken during that match:
Barry Pinches always looked in control of the last quarter-final . He beat James Wattana by 3-1. It’s not every day that you see a canary get the better of a typhoon … it can only happen only on a snooker table, an environment well known to create unexpected events and produce “strange things”. The scores for that match are here. Barry looks very, very sharp. He’s entered the Q-School so, as you would expect, he has put the hours in, and it shows,
Here are the images for that match:
And Michaela was trying to steal my job…
Seriously … she was taking pictures of a very proud Mark Beale. Mark has given a lot of his time to the amateur game, refereeing on the Women’s Tour, on the Seniors’ Tour, and countless hours in the “900” events. Yesterday he refereed at the Crucible… a totally deserved recognition for his impeccable work and his dedication to the sport we love.
Jimmy White’s defence of the World Seniors title came to an end at the hands of Igor Figueiredo. Igor beat him by 3-0 in the first match of this afternoon. The scores are available on snookerscores.net as usual. Jimmy never really settled in this match. Igor was always in control of the first frame and took it comfortably. It looked for all the world that Jimmy would take the second frame but Igor stole it on the last colours. From then on, Jimmy looked very nervous and anxious. Igor did what he had to do and closed the match on a whitewash score.
Here are the pictures taken before and during that match:
The reason I took those “general view” pictures this afternoon is that Mark Allen came on Twitter/X suggesting that nobody was interested in watching this event. I’m not sure why Mark felt the need to post such a thing but when he challenged me to show the crowd … I took the challenge. No, it’s not a full packed house, but, considering that this is a week-day afternoon it’s still a very decent crowd. Actually, there were more people than shown in the pictures. This was taken during frame 3. A number of viewers had left the arena after the first two frames … heading for refreshments or for the loo.
The second match of the afternoon session saw Ken Doherty beat Dechawat Poomjaeng by 3-2. You will find the scores here. Other than the second, all frames were one-sided. Poomy lead 2-1, having scored a 50 break in frame 3. The “danger” seemed to spur Kendo on … he dominated the last two frames, scoring breaks of 51 and 70 in the process.
The evening session yesterday saw the conclusion of the round of 16 at the “Seniors Crucible”.
In the first match of the evening, the “Canary”, Barry Pinches, beat Joe Johnson quite convincingly by 3-1. Barry played really well, and scored well too. If he can keep that form he’s certainly a contender for the title. You will find the scores here. At the time of writing the scores for the last frame are missing. As always Barry was huffing and puffing throughout but he was getting on with the job mercilessly …
Here are the pictures taken during that match:
The last match of the day – and the last of the last 16 round – was eagerly anticipated. The unpredictable Dechawat Poomjaeng was due to face the always very serious Darren Morgan. Nobody knew what to expect … except for the unexpected. When “Poomy” turned up – rather last minute – I was probably the first to meet him in the corridor …
… and he asked me, rather anxiously, if he needed a bowtie … 😄 … I wouldn’t mind one way or the other, I’m just a photographer that was not my decision to take!
Anyway… the guy is crazy (in a nice way) but there was nothing much crazy coming out of his cue once he was at the table! He beat Darren Morgan by 3-1 and it could easily have been 3-0! Here are the scores.
And the images taken during the match…
Considering that yesterday was a week-day, the event was very well attended by the public. Then, of course, Jimmy was playing …
Here is the program for today … in the order of play
Jimmy White v Igor Figueiredo (12h local time)
Dechawat Poomjaeng v Ken Doherty (approximatively 14h)
Stuart Watson v Tony Drago (19h)
Barry Pinches v James Wattana (approximatively 21h)
The action continued today at the Crucible, in front of a good crowd, considering that this is aweek day and and afternoon session.
The first match of the day saw Tony Drago beat Michael Judge by 3-1. The full results are on snookerscores.net. I wasn’t expecting anything from Tony who, in recent years, has suffered some serious health issues but he played really well. He’s certainly been putting the hourd in on the practice table. Nothing at all against Michael Judge but I’m very pleased for Tony. Here are the images taken before and during that match.
The next match saw the defending champion, Jimmy White take on Andrew Norman, a player who had never before played at the Crucible. Andrew, who used to work at the SWSA in Gloucester, took the first two frames. A big upset looked on the cards at that stage. But the match turned on one ball in the next frame, a frame Jimmy took before winning the next two. Andrew, who was watched by his wife and young son Elliott, had no complaints. Despite the defeat he told me that he had enjoyed the experience. You couldn’t meet a nicer man than Andrew. I was gutted for him, more than he was himself.
Here are the images taken before and during that match, a match during which Leo Scullion was really put to hard work!
It all brought back a lot of memories from the SWSA days. Both Andrew and Jimmy were managed by Paul Mount for a while, Andrew worked at the SWSA and Clive Brown, who was marking this match, used to be the TD at the Pink Ribbon… those were the days…
And so it begins… the first session of this year “Seniors Crucible” was played this afternoon. We are only at the last 16 stage but every match is important of course. These are short matches – best of 5 – and there is a 30 seconds shot clock. 30 seconds is plenty of time and shouldn’t be a problem for anyone. The idea is to prevent players to get bogged down.
Before the start of the event, I took a walk around the venue. Outside and inside…
In the second match of the afternoon Ken Doherty faced Tyson Crinis from Australia. Ken beat him by 3-1. The scores are on snookerscores.net and, as you can see the match was actually a really close affair. All credits to Tyson there because this certainly was a totally unfamiliar environment and the time difference was bound to take its toll on him too. Before the match started, Neil Robertson sent a video message in support of his compatriot which was quite nice to see. I do hope that Tyson enjoyed the experience, he certainly didn’t disgrace himself!
Mr Vegas World Seniors Championship 2024 | Schedule
World Seniors Snooker is pleased to confirm the schedule for the 2024 Mr Vegas World Seniors Championship.
The tournament sees a global field of 16 cueists head to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield aiming to secure the prestigious title at snooker’s most iconic venue. This year, for the first time, the Mr Vegas World Seniors Championship will be broadcast live on Channel 5 in the UK from 8-12 May.
First Round Schedule
Wednesday 8th May
12pm
James Wattana (Thailand) vs. Rodney Goggins (Ireland)
Ken Doherty (Ireland) vs. Tyson Crinis (Australia)
7pm
Tony Knowles (England) vs. Mohamed Khairy (Egypt)
Igor Figueiredo (Brazil) vs. Tessa Davidson (England)
Thursday 9th May
12pm
Tony Drago (Malta) vs. Michael Judge (Ireland)
Jimmy White (England) vs. Andrew Norman (England)
7pm
Joe Johnson (England) vs. Barry Pinches (England)
Darren Morgan (Wales) vs. Dechawat Poomjaeng (Thailand)
Jimmy White arrives in Sheffield looking to secure a record-extending fifth World Seniors crown and he will begin his campaign against Andrew Norman in the second match of the afternoon session on day two, following Malta’s Tony Drago against Michael Judge.
The honour of opening the event falls to qualifier Rodney Goggins and James Wattana, who is competing in the Mr Vegas World Seniors Championship for the first time since 2019, who will be followed by 1997 World champion Ken Doherty against Australia’s Tyson Crinis on the first afternoon.
Wednesday evening sees former World number two Tony Knowles begin his campaign against Egypt’s Mohamed Khairy before Igor Figueiredo and World Women’s Snooker Seniors champion Tessa Davidson face off in the final match of day one.
Former World champion Joe Johnson then headlines the second evening, taking on veteran former professional Barry Pinches, before Darren Morgan and Dechawat Poomjaeng conclude the opening round of action.
The quarter-finals and semi-finals will be played on Friday 10 and Saturday 11 May.
The 2024 Mr Vegas World Seniors Championship final will get underway at Sunday 12 May at 12 o’clock.
Tickets are now on sale from just £17.50 via the Crucible on 0114 2496000 or online at www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk
This is a truly, diverse, international line-up! Bring it on!
The WPBSA World Seniors Tour 