• View results from the tournament here

It is the fourth time that the evergreen White has claimed the premier title on the world seniors scene following previous triumphs in 2010, 2019 and 2020. 

The finalists had reached the showpiece match in impressive fashion, dropping just two frames each en route. Earlier in the day in the semi-finals, White ended the run of a resurgent Tony Drago 4-1, while Burden got the better of Ben Hancorn by the same scoreline.

After a nervy start to the opening frame for both, Burden looked on course to claim it before he missed a straightforward red on a break of 53. White fully punished with a counter-attacking 62 up to and including the final pink to open his account first.

Burden levelled the tie with the help of a 39 break in frame two, but White went back ahead when he won the third on the colours, and then two clear heading into the mid-session interval off the back of a vintage 63 clearance despite several balls having been scrappy. 

On resumption, the popular 61-year-old moved one away from the title at 4-1 with an effort of 55. 

However, with the winning line fast approaching, White seemed to tighten up and momentum shifted as he spurned chances. Burden secured frames six and seven to reduce his arrears to just one and put the contest back in the balance. 

White, though, was not to be denied the trophy. After establishing a small advantage earlier on in frame seven, The Whirlwind capitalised on a Burden safety error, subsequently crafting a classy clearance of 84 for victory. 

The title caps off a memorable season for White following his best professional campaign for several years.

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• View the draw and results from the event here

Three-time champion White was the first player to reach the showpiece match after he ended the run of an invigorated Tony Drago. 

The Whirlwind won the opening frame with the help of a 64 break and doubled his advantage in the second. Drago – playing in this event for the first time in nearly four years – responded with a rapid 72 break in the third frame; nine reds and nine blacks before going in-off when potting the tenth red and trying to get position back at the top of the table. 

However, an impressive White crafted breaks of 74, 56 and 68 as he claimed the next two frames for a 4-1 victory. 

Since the tournament moved here in 2019, White has reached the final on every occasion. He will be looking to add to the titles he claimed in 2010, 2020 and 2021.

Burden will feature in his maiden world seniors final after he put on a brilliant performance to defeat Ben Hancorn 4-1 in a high-quality affair.

Breaks of 86, 72 and 56 were chalked up by the 46-year-old as he established a 3-0 lead before Crucible debutant Hancorn – who had done little wrong – kept his hopes alive and got on the board with an effort of 85 in the fourth frame. Burden, though, got over the line in the next, registering a run of 101 to set up a mouthwatering clash with fellow Londoner and good friend White.

Both White and Burden have dropped just two frames each in the event so far.

The best-of-nine frames final will take place from 19:00GMT on Sunday evening. Details on how to watch can be found here.

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• View the draw, results and schedule for the event here

White was in sizzling form as he dispatched Australia’s Adrian Ridley 4-0 in the opening tie of the evening. 

The three-time champion – who finished with a very impressive pot success rate of over 97% – got the job done within 52 minutes and recorded breaks of 76, 103, 80 and 84. White has now won 16 of his 18 matches at the Crucible in this event since it moved here in 2019. 

The Whirlwind will meet The Tornado Tony Drago on Sunday afternoon for a place in the final. 

In the second match of the session, Burden ended the hopes of seven-time world professional champion Stephen Hendry with a 4-1 victory. 

Londoner Burden claimed the opening frame with the help of a 64 break, but Hendry replied with a 62 in the second frame as he levelled the match.

Burden secured frame three on the colours after Hendry left himself hampered on the final red, and the 46-year-old extended his advantage with the next after both players had made errors during it.

Hendry scored first in frame five but missed, bringing Burden to the table who – assisted with a fluke near the start of the effort – constructed a frame and match winning break of 85. 

‘The AB of London’ faces Ben Hancorn in the last four.

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Both high-quality and entertaining matches went all the way at the Crucible Theatre on Saturday afternoon, with two century breaks and seven further contributions of 50 or more. 

Former English amateur champion Hancorn ousted Gerard Greene 4-3 to set up a semi-final showdown with either Stephen Hendry or Alfie Burden. 

Greene claimed the opening frame, but Crucible debutant Hancorn drew level with a classy 98 break. An effort of 73 helped the Northern Irishman go back in front, although his opponent squared it again before compiling a brilliant effort of 116 in frame five – the first century of this year’s event – to move one away from progression. 

Deserved for a match of such class, Greene made sure it went the distance as he crafted a 73 to make it 3-3. 

Both players had scoring opportunites early in the deciding frame but rattled reds in corner pockets. The telling shot would come later when Hancorn laid a very difficult snooker with the reds spread open. Greene escaped but left a red on, and Hancorn fully capitalised with a cool and decisive effort of 49 to come through an epic. 

An even closer and more dramatic encounter ensued in the second match of the day as Maltese legend Drago rolled back the years to pip Mark Davis 4-3. 

Aided by breaks of 50, 40 and 59 made in typical quick fashion, former International Open finalist Drago led 3-0 and stood one away from advancing.

However, 2016 champion Davis conjured up a stirring comeback, starting off with a 137 total clearance – the tournament’s highest break this year, so far – to get on the board.

In a remarkable fifth frame which saw Drago make a break of 63 and go within touching distance of victory, Davis somehow fluked a red along the top cushion when escaping from a snooker and went on to complete a clearance of 33. The Hastings cueist then registered a run of 98 to force the tie into a deciding frame. 

In a memorable seventh and final frame, the contest went down to the colours. After potting a brilliant green, Drago missed a relatively straightforward brown under normal circumstances. However, Davis subsequently missed it himself, and the 57-year-old from Valletta slotted home brown to pink to record an emotional win and set up a date with either Jimmy White or Adrian Ridley in the final four on Sunday. 

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• View the draw, results and schedule for the Championship here

Seven-time world professional champion Hendry is looking to secure this title for the first time, and the Scot is still on course this year after an entertaining 3-2 victory over 2011 winner Darren Morgan. 

The opening two frames were shared, but Hendry went back in front with frame three after successfully laying a required snooker with just pink and black left – subsequently gaining the penalty points and later potting the final two balls for a steal.

Morgan bounced back from that disappointment by claiming the next frame without allowing his opponent to score a point to force a deciding frame. However, it was a vintage Hendry in the fifth frame, as he potted a beautiful long-distance red with his first shot and went on to make a quality frame and match winning break of 79 to set up a tasty meeting with Alfie Burden.

Off the back of his best season on the professional circuit in several years, three-time champion White was patient and resilient as he recovered from the loss of the opening frame to end the run of Philip Williams. 

Golden ticket event winner Williams – appearing here for a third consecutive year – took the lead with the help of a 61, and was close to doubling his advantage as he held a handy lead in frame two with just one red left. White, though, gave himself a confidence booster as he doubled the last red and cleared up with a 34 to pinch it and level. 

Frame three was also in the balance late on before White claimed it on the colours, but the 61-year-old found his groove in the fourth as he constructed a nice clearance of 70 to win the encounter 3-1.

White will face Australia’s Adrian Ridley for a place in the final four. 

All four quarter-final matches will take place on Saturday in Sheffield with afternoon and evening sessions scheduled for 12:00GMT and 19:00GMT starts respectively.

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In front of a packed audience in Sheffield, Australian Ridley produced a very impressive display to dispatch 1986 world professional champion Joe Johnson, 3-0. 

The Yarrawonga cueist – who qualified by virtue of claiming this year’s Asia Pacific Seniors Championship in March – looked comfortable as he rattled in breaks of 46, 57 and 73 to set up a date with either Jimmy White or Philip Williams on Saturday. 

The second match of the session between Hancorn and Peter Lines yielded the first deciding frame finish of this year’s event. 

Former English amateur champion Hancorn claimed the opening frame, but 2017 title winner and current UK seniors champion Lines levelled up and then went in front. Lines held a small lead in the fourth frame and had chances to go through but was unable to convert; Hancorn punished and took the tie all the way.

In the deciding frame, Lines failed to successfully lay a snooker behind the yellow ball. Hancorn immediately potted a brilliant long-distance red from the error and went on to make a cool 78 clearance to go through. 

The Bristolian is set to face Gerard Greene in the quarter-finals tomorrow.

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• Draw, results and schedule for the Championship via WPBSA SnookerScores

A quarter of a century on from his other appearance at the home of snooker, it looked as if a very fluent Burden had never been away as he dispatched 1997 world professional champion Ken Doherty 3-0.

The Londoner hit breaks of 56 and 30 to claim the opening frame and never looked back, giving his opponent few chances throughout the match as he crafted further efforts of 43, 60 and 51 in a resounding win. 

The player that defeated Burden here back in 1998 was Drago, and the Maltese icon continued the quick green baize entertainment in Sheffield as he ended the journey of Crucible debutant Vito Puopolo inside 37 minutes. 

Featuring in the world seniors for the first time since 2019, 57-year-old Drago had an average shot time of just 12.96 seconds and a pot success rate of 94.74%.

PABSA Pan-American Seniors Champion Puopolo from Canada showed flashes of his quality, but Drago displayed some brilliant shotmaking and rattled in breaks of 50, 35 and a 73 clearance as he recorded a 3-0 victory. 

Burden and Drago will return Saturday for the last eight; Burden meets either Stephen Hendry or Darren Morgan, while Drago faces Mark Davis.

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• Draw, results and schedule for the Championship here

In the tournament’s curtain-raiser, Greene dethroned reigning champion Lee Walker 3-1. 

Walker – who memorably ousted Jimmy White in the final here 12 months ago – looked sharp in the first frame as he made breaks of 52 and 31.

However, Greene responded well, registering an effort of 45 early on in frame two before potting a red from long range and making a 28 clearance to pink to level the match. Despite missing pots that his opponent could not fully capitalise on, Greene largely continued his momentum and claimed the next two frames to set up a date with either Peter Lines or Ben Hancorn in the last eight on Saturday. 

The winner of this title in 2016, Davis is in contention to be crowned again following a 3-0 victory against two-time ranking event champion Tony Knowles. 

With the opening frame in the balance come the final stages, late replacement to the event Knowles let slip a safety shot which Davis punished to go in front.

Davis would go on to compile runs of 59 and 51 in frames two and three respectively to help complete a 3-0 win and book his berth in the quarter-finals. 

Action in the 2023 LLP Solicitors World Seniors Snooker Championship resumes on Thursday night in Sheffield as Ken Doherty faces Alfie Burden, and Tony Drago meets Vito Puopolo. The winner of the latter match will be scheduled to play Davis on Saturday.

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• View the draw and schedule here

The pinnacle of the World Seniors Snooker Tour, it is the fifth consecutive year that the event will be held at the iconic Sheffield venue. Following the completion of several qualifying competitions across the season, this year’s field looks to be the strongest yet with nine nationalities represented in the 16-player main draw. 

Some tickets are still available for the Championship via the Sheffield Theatres website here, but if you’re not able to be there in person, details on how to watch the live coverage throughout can be found here. 

The draw was conducted during the professional championship a few weeks ago; let’s check out the ties we can look forward to…

Top Half 

Heading the top of the draw and helping break off the tournament on Wednesday night is reigning and defending champion Lee Walker. 

The Welshman memorably ousted Jimmy White in last year’s final to win the biggest title of his career. He faces a very tricky opening round tie against Gerard Greene, who has been competing on the professional circuit this season. 

Throughout the history and different iterations of the world seniors snooker championship, only one player has successfully defended, or even just won the event more than once – White in 2010, 2019 and 2020. 

Champion in 2017 and one of the most decorated players in seniors tour history, Peter Lines is back for another tilt at the title. The Leeds cueist meets former English amateur champion Ben Hancorn, who will be making his Crucible Theatre bow.

Seven-times world professional champion Stephen Hendry is aiming for his maiden world seniors crown, although the Scot has a tough first rounder against former winner Darren Morgan, who also has a further two final appearances in this event to his name, including here in 2019. 

An intriguing tie, Hendry defeated Morgan here four times in the professional championship during the 1990s – contributing to a very one-sided head-to-head career record. However, Morgan did get the better of Hendry the last time they dueled here in this tournament four years ago in the last eight. 

Completing the top half of the bracket is Ken Doherty versus Alfie Burden. 

Having won world junior, amateur and professional championships throughout his illustrious career, Doherty is still looking to achieve an unprecedented quadruple. He very nearly did so three years ago but agonisingly lost 5-4 to White in the final having been 4-0 up. 

Burden will make an emotional return to Crucible, a quarter of a century on from his sole appearance there in 1998. 

Bottom Half 

The World Seniors Snooker Tour’s most successful player, three-time champion White has reached the final in all four previous editions of the event here – winning 14 out of his 16 matches in total.

Off the back of his best season on the professional circuit in several years, the 61-year-old plays Golden Ticket event winner Philip Williams on Friday night in Sheffield. The final slot in the draw to be filled, Williams booked a third successive appearance here when he caused somewhat of an upset by defeating Craig Steadman in the event final. 

Professional champion in 1986, Joe Johnson has also tasted glory here on the seniors circuit when he claimed the Seniors Masters in 2019. Now aged 70, JJ is 30 years older than his opponent in the first round, Adrian Ridley. 

The Yarrawonga-based star has travelled across the world to perform under the Crucible Theatre lights for the first time; the Australian qualified after winning the Asia-Pacific Seniors Championship in March – dropping just two frames in seven matches.

The popular Tony Drago will make his return to the tournament for the first time since 2019 when the Maltese legend plays Canada’s Vito Puopolo on Thursday night in a cosmopolitan clash. Puopolo – making his debut at the venue – qualified courtesy of claiming the 2022 PABSA Pan-American Seniors Snooker Championship in Toronto last October.

Completing the draw is 2016 winner Mark Davis – five players in this year’s main event have been the champion – versus two-time ranking event winner and three-time Crucible semi-finalist Tony Knowles, who was a late replacement for Egypt’s Mohamed Khairy who withdrew due to visa issues.

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