There were four matches played in two sessions yesterday.

Afternoon session

Cao Kaisheng looked very nervous at the start of his match against “The Shirt”, Lee Richardson. This is quite understandable as I’m told that Cao had never before left China, so everything here is new and alien to him and he also knew that he was watched by thousands  in China over the streaming. But he battled through, progressively seemed to settle and eventually took the match on a black ball shootout.

Rhydian Richards, the Wales n°1 amateur, had an easier route to the QF, as he defeated an out of sorts, but battling, Joe Johnson by 3-0.

Lee Richardson

Evening session

Both evening matches in the evening were quality.

Patrick Wallace, who lost in the first round last year, beat Simon Dent by 3-0. Patrick looked very nervous at the start and it was Simon who was first in with a telling break in frame 1. It wasn’t a winning break though and Patrick managed to nick the frame. It changed the whole psychology of the match.

Aaron Canavan supported by a solid group of fans who have made the trip from Jersey, looked the better player from the start … and had a bit of run too. Dennis Taylor wasn’t playing badly by any means, and the match was hard-fought and closer than the final score – 3-1 to Aaron – suggests.

As compared to last year, the quality of the snooker on display is seriously higher. It’s very obvious that all the players take this tournament, and the whole Seniors tour, very seriously and have worked hard on their preparation … Great to see!

You can watch the matches in streaming on the Snooker Legends Youtube channel.

Jason Francis on twitter shared this earlier today:

The shirt Lee Richardson will replace John Parrott at the Assetereum World Seniors Championship. John has asked to be replaced for personal reasons. Lee was the next highest ranked player and will play Cao Kashieng on wednesday #opportunity #theshirt #daretodream

Indeed John Parrot asked to be replaced, for personal reasons

The WSF Seniors Championship is underway in Malta and has now reached the knock out stages. Remember, the winner of this event will play in one of the Seniors Tour Events next season.

Johnny Farrell who recently qualified for the World Seniors Championship did outstandingly well as he managed to finish in the top 4 after the Group stages. Therefore he was seeded  directly in the last 16. He will play Jason Peplow later today.

There is a streaming available on table 4

WSF Seniors Championship – Knock out stages – Live scores, streaming and more here http://esnooker.pl/live/en/tsnew.php

You can have a look at the pictures I took so far at the WSF Championships  (those are Facebook links, but they are open to all)

The Opening Ceremony

Day 1 – 14 March 2018

WSF Championships 2018 – 15 March 2018

Unfortunately Willie Thorne had to withdraw, suffering from a back injury. He is replaced in the draw by the top ranked amateur, Gary Filtness, “The Blade” who will face Barry Pinches. I have to admit that the author of this blog is happy for Gary who came agonizingly close to qualifying countless time, losing on respotted blacks. He’s ranked n°1 for a reason and I’m certain that his and Barry Pinches match will be a very high quality one!

Willie will still be at the launch dinner and at the golf event (although it’s unclear if he will actually play.

Johnny Farrell won the World Q8, the last qualifying event of this season, yesterday in Dublin. More details about what happened on Sunday and the new rankings will be coming soon.

With all qualifiers known, Jason Francis was live on Facebook tonight to do the draw of the Seniors World Championship and to give us a taste of what’s coming next season. If you missed it, you can the video again on the Snooker Legends Facebook page

Or if you have problems accessing facebook, here it is

and, no, I won’t spoil you! Watch it.

Action continues today in Dublin to determine who will be the last qualifier for the World Seniors Championship 2018.

Here is what happened yesterday

Good luck to all!

At the end of this week-end we will know the line-up for the World Championship 2018.

Here are the draw and format for the last qualifying event, in Dublin:

Good luck to all players involved!

Here is David, with the reigning Seniors World Champion, Peter Lines. The Q7 was held in the Northern Snooker Center in Leeds, Peter’s club, and one of the nicest places you could find to play snooker!

Here are the full results of the week-end:

There is now only one spot for the grabs,  to earn a chance to play in the World Seniors in Scunthorpe in March! the World Seniors Q8, the last one for this season, will be played from 9 to 11 March 2018, in Dublin.