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Good News about the Seniors Tour

seniorsnooker Tour news

It’s been a while … but eventually i’s good news.

After the last Seniors World Championship, we got no news about the World Seniors Tour, no provisional calendar for this season, no invitation to register for qualifiers… nothing.

Instead, Jason Francis has been involved in a lot of newer projects: Seniors Darts, the 900 and more… Many, me included, became worried that the World Seniors Snooker Tour would disappear. Clearly, there were some issues.

Yesterday, Jason Francis, posted this on social media

Keep the faith… we’re not done yet! #Daretodream

SeniorsTourLogo

The announcement triggered a lot of positive comments, and, of course, questions.

Here is one comment by Barry Pinches, with Jason Francis’s answer

Pinches/Json FB 5.8.2022

Of course the other Jason he is mentionning is Jason Ferguson. That’s reassuring and definitely good news! Hopefully, we will know more and get a “calendar” very soon.

 

Changes to the qualifying process for upcoming events

seniorsnooker Tour news

This press release was shared by the Seniors World Tour on social media

PRESS RELEASE
Today the World Seniors Snooker Tour announces some changes to the Qualifying criteria for the upcoming events in December 2021 and February 2022.
These changes are immediate and follow lengthy consultations with the players commissions of both the WPBSA and World Seniors and the WPBSA Board. These changes apply to this season only at this stage as a trial, a decision on whether to adopt them for the tour will be taken after the conclusion of the 2022 World Seniors Snooker Championship.
The changes are:
  • For the World Seniors Qualifier in December (14-19) no current professional players will be eligible for entry which means that two Amateur players will progress from that event to the 2022 World Seniors Snooker Championship which will be held at the Crucible Theatre between the 4-8th May 2022.
  • For the World Seniors Qualifier in February (8-13) no amateur players will be eligible for entry which means that two Professional players will progress from that event to the 2022 World Seniors Snooker Championship.
The following amateur players have already secured their places in the final event and so will also not be eligible to enter the December Event. Those players are Patrick Wallace, Michael Judge, Gary Filtness, Wayne Cooper, Bob Chaperon, Frank Sarsfield and Darren Morgan.
Jason Francis, Chairman of World Seniors said, “We must listen to our players and never be afraid to make bold decisions when needed. Its important the tour provides opportunities for both professional and amateur senior players.
With some of the very best over 40 Amateur players in the world already in Sheffield Decembers event represents a fantastic opportunity for any snooker player over 40 to walk out at the Crucible live on TV”

Personally I think that those changes are good as they guarantee that both older professionals and amateurs will be present at those important events.

Some information about next season

seniorsnooker Event info, Tour news ,

WPBSA has today published the following announcement:

New Qualifying Dates Announced for 2022 World Seniors Championship

World Seniors Snooker (WSS) has today announced the dates for two new qualifying tournaments which will provide all players over-40 with the opportunity to earn a place at the Crucible Theatre next spring.

Held at the Crucible Theatre since 2019, the World Seniors Snooker Championship is set to return to the home of snooker in 2022 with an all-new 24 player format aimed at providing more senior players with the opportunity to compete at the iconic venue than ever before.

To complete the field, qualifying tournaments will be held from 14-19 December 2021 and 8-13 February 2022, each with two prized places on offer to compete in Sheffield. The four successful qualifiers will join an all-star field which is set to include the likes of defending champion David Lilley, four-time world seniors champion Jimmy White and former UK Seniors champion Ken Doherty.

Both qualifying tournaments will be held at the Crucible Sports and Social Club in Reading, which is a recognised EPSB 147 Club and will be the official qualifying venue for the WSS Tour this season.

It has today also been announced that the scheduled Seniors Masters and Irish Masters events will now not take place in 2022. Although it is recognised that this decision will come as a disappointment to fans in Ireland and London, during what remains a challenging climate to stage events of this size, the Board has taken the responsible decision to focus on successfully delivering both the World and UK Championship tournaments at this time.

The news does mean that all players who had previously qualified for either the Masters or Irish Masters tournaments will now be invited to the Crucible to compete at next year’s World Seniors Championship. These players are: Patrick Wallace, Michael Judge, Wayne Cooper, Gary Filtness, Darren Morgan, Bob Chaperon and Rory McLeod.

Further information regarding the qualifying tournaments for the World Seniors Championship qualifiers, including how to enter, will be released soon.

We are going through difficult times and there are still a lot of uncertainties regarding the coming months. The governing body is doing its best to deliver quality events whilst keeping everyone safe.

 

Seniors Q-School 2021 – Two more spots at the Crucible for the grabs

seniorsnooker Tour news

A second Seniors Q-school will be held this spring, with two spots to play at the Crucible for the grabs.

Here is the announcement on WPBSA website:

A further two places at the 2021 World Seniors Snooker Championship will be claimed at the latest Qualifying School to be organised by the ROKiT Phones World Seniors Snooker Tour.

To be held from 27 March – 4 April 2021 at the Crucible Sports and Social Club in Reading, the event follows the successful staging of Seniors Q School back in January which saw eight places at upcoming major tournaments decided.

As in January, the event will be run strictly in accordance with guidelines from the DCMS and the EPSB with full COVID-19 testing protocols in place. All players are required to receive a COVID-19 test, even if they have already received one or both doses of the vaccination.

HOW TO ENTER

Entry for the event is now open with up to 128 spaces available.

The closing date for entries is Monday 15 March 2021 – or when 128 confirmed entries are received.

For more information about the ROKiT Phones World Seniors Snooker Tour visit their Facebook page.

Inevitably, under the current circumstances, orgsanising such an event comes with constraints and costs. But this IS an opportunity to play at the Crucible and live your dream. Jason Francis has put huge efforts and energy into getting the Seniors playing despite the restrictions, and “his” events have actually been the only non-professional events allowed to go on. So, if you believe in your dream and want the Seniors tour to continue to be succesful, support it and get your cue out…

WSS 2021 Q-School – the draws are out.

seniorsnooker Event info, Tour news ,

The WSS 2021 Q-School will sart on January, 4, 2021. Four qualifying events will be played. The event has been recognised as an “Elite Sport” event and, as such is allowed to go ahead provided that all precautions and sanitary rules are followed when it comes to covid-19 prevention.

The event will be played in Reading, at the Crucible Sports and Social Club. The club is owned by Jason Francis. Practice will also be available at Jason’s club in Newbury.

The main table will be streamed on Facebook.

Here are the draws:

WSS UK Chamionship Qualifiers draw

WSS Masters draw

Super Seniors  draw

World Championship draw

As you will see there is an interesting mix in there: great players from the past, recent past and current main tour seniors players and very talented amateurs.

Unfortunately, no Asian players are able to compete this time around.

Live scores and results will be available via the WPBSA Snooker Scores system

It has been a colossal effort from Jason and the WSS team to get this on its feet. Thank you to all those who made this possible, and good luck to all players.

Some more WSS Tour news

seniorsnooker Tour news

This was published by WPBSA today:

The ROKiT Phones World Seniors Snooker Tour has recently announced a series dates for tournaments to be held during 2021.

Following the successful staging of the World Seniors Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre last August, the tournament will return to the ‘home of snooker’ for a third successive year from 6-9 May 2021.

A 16-player field will be led by Jimmy White – who will be looking to win the event for a third successive year – with tickets to go on sale this month to Crucible members from 14 December and general sale from 21 December.

A number of places in the draw will be filled following the inaugural ROKiT World Seniors Qualifying School which is set to be held at the Crucible Sports and Social Club in Reading from 4-10 January. The event is set to be the first open-entry amateur tournament held by the WPBSA since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic and will be run strictly in accordance with guidelines from the DCMS and the EPSB with full COVID-19 testing protocols in place.

Also set to return is the UK Seniors Championship, last held in October 2019 prior to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. As in 2018 and last year, the tournament is once again set to be held at the state-of-the-art Bonus Arena in Hull and has now been expanded from two to four days covering 12-15 August 2021.

Among those already confirmed to be participating at the event are Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White, as well as previous champions Ken Doherty and last year’s winner Michael Judge. Tickets for the event will go on sale from 10am on Friday 11 December.

The Senior Irish Masters remains scheduled to take place at the iconic Goffs venue from 27-28 March, subject to government restrictions in place at the time. World Seniors Snooker will continue to monitor the event and provide further updates when possible.

Finally, the Seniors Masters event, scheduled for 15-16 May 2021 at Alexandra Palace, will now be rescheduled to Autumn 2021 with new dates to be announced in due course.

Follow the World Seniors Snooker Facebook page for the latest news and announcements from the circuit.

…

 

The 2021 WSS UK Championship is on

seniorsnooker Tour news

The dates and venue for the 2021 UK Championship have been confirmed

UK SENIORS SNOOKER 2021

UK Seniors Snooker 2021

Some of snooker’s greatest ever players will return to Hull in 2021 as the UK Seniors Championship will again take place at the Bonus Arena.

Jimmy White, Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty and reigning tournament champion Michael Judge will take part in the 16-person event. It is the third year the tournament will have come to Hull, having missed 2020 due to the pandemic.

The four-day tournament will take place between 12 and 15 August 2021 and tickets go on sale at 10am on Friday, 11 December.

Jason Francis, chairman of World Seniors Snooker, said: “Such has been the warmth from the people of Hull to our previous snooker in their city we were determined to make sure they don’t miss out in 2021. The players love the venue and we continue on our journey to making Hull a Snooker City, very much like Sheffield.”

Current World Seniors champion Jimmy White added: “Hull has always been such a great hotbed for snooker and pool, it is brilliant to have the city on the tour each season now and it is getting bigger and bigger.”

Last 16 matches will take place in sessions at 12noon and 7pm on both Thursday, 12 and Friday, 13 August 2021. Quarter final sessions take place at 12noon and 7pm on Saturday, 14 August. The semi finals take place at 12noon on Sunday, 15 August with the final at 7pm on the same day.

Single session ticket prices start from £10 each plus booking fees with full day tickets also available.

 

Some news/infos about the WSS “calendar” for the coming weeks and months

seniorsnooker Tour news

The current Covid-19 crisis has forced everyone to change their plans, and it’s a very difficult time for all, economically, socially and psychologically.

The Seniors Tour has suffered as events needed to be posponed or canceled. There are no absolute certainties just yet about the end of this season, or about next season. There is no way a proper calendar can be established with certainty at this moment in time.

But here are some informations about WSS  tour plans at the time of writing.

This SEASON 2019/20

Jan 4th – 10th – Qualifying School, Crucible Reading

This event was supposed to be played in Jersey. Because of the travel restrictions, it became increasingly obvious that most entrants would be unable to travel to the venue. Therefore, the event will now be held in Reading and entries are re-opened.

The Q-school comprises four competitions:
2021 UK Seniors Qualification – 4 places available to qualify
2021 World Seniors Championship – 2 places available to qualify
2021 Masters Championship – 1 Place in the 2021 Masters
All matches best of 5 to semi-finals, Final matches in each event best of 7
All 8 winners will be guaranteed £1000, payable at the final stage event.
Criteria
The senior  events are open to any current amateur player over 40 on or before 4th January 2021.
The  Seniors event is open to any amateur player over 55 on or before 4th January 2021.
All players who enter will need to agree to the WPBSA code of conduct and terms and conditions of the event which will be available within the entry system. They will also need to understand the COVID procedures that will be in place. Players will be tested for Covid-19 and will be withdrawn from the events should they test positive. They may need to arrive the day before their first match.

March 27/28th – Irish Masters Goffs (tbc pending pandemic rulings by then in Ireland)

May 6-9 – World Champs Crucible

SeniorsWC2021PressRelease+ Seniors Qualifying School 2 (venue tbc)

New SEASON 2020/21

UK Championship  in Hull (12-15August, 2021)

Seniors Q School in Jersey September (dates to be confirmed)

Masters  – Alexandra Palace, London (dates to be confirmed)

 

 

Qualifying School in Jersey postponed

seniorsnooker Event info, Tour news ,

Unfortunately, because of the Covid-19 situation, the Qualifying School in Jersey had to be postponed.

Here is the message that Jason Francis shared on social media, on October 13, 2020.

Dear All,
It is with great regret that given todays announcement from Jersey we have no option but to postpone the seniors qualifying school. What started out as a challenge, and a resolve to get an event on, is no longer viable with only residents of Worthing and a few remote regions in the Uk now able to arrive in Jersey without a 5 day isolation period.
The new dates will be Monday January 4th to Sunday January 10th.
Play will begin on Tuesday 5th, everyone will need to arrive by 6pm on Monday 4th in case the self-isolation rule is still in place. With today’s announcement most flights will be cancelled so move quick to get them rearranged.
The Mayfair Hotel have agreed to honour and move bookings at no cost to players, please get in touch with them, they will also honour the rate. I cannot speak for any players staying in an unofficial hotel but you should contact them as soon as you can.
For those players who have already withdrawn you now have the option to come back in, irrespective of numbers in the field if you want your place back we will make it happen but you need to get in touch.
Also if you cannot attend between 4th – 10th January then you can apply for a refund and I will issue a form for this.
However please note if you withdraw now there is no guarantee you can get back in closer to the date as I had already filled the spots of everyone who had withdrawn and we still have a waiting list.
I am hopeful things will be a bit easier after Christmas but I also accept this is not ideal for everyone, but giving up and cancelling and depriving players of a chance to play in the crucible or against a legend would be worse.
For those who were waiting for the 20th, you’re automatically transferred into the new event date and unless I hear from you that will stay the same.
Current Jersey regions for Uk attached, you can see how little green was left.
We have moved as quickly as we can,
Regards
World Seniors Snooker.

Jason and the World Seniors Team are putting in every effort to get the WSS players playing whilst making sure it’s safe for everybody involved. It’s a huge challenge and they have no control over the pandemics situation and its consequences. They can only work hard and try their best, which they certainly do.