• Official Two-Year Ranking List
• Race to the Crucible Ranking List
• Super Seniors Ranking List
• Rankings FAQ

The top two players on the official WSS ranking list, as well as the top two on the ‘Race to the Crucible’ one-year list will earn their places in the World Seniors Championship, and they will be joined by the winner of a ‘Top 16 Shootout’ event – where players ranked between third and tenth on each list will compete for the final place.

One point is awarded for each frame won at an event and, should the same players sit in the top two of both rankings lists, then the official world rankings would take priority.

Watson Returns to World Number One

Stuart Watson returns to world number one on the official two-year WSS ranking list after a run to the last 16 in Reading at the weekend.

The 2024 World Seniors Championship quarter-finalist overtakes Craig Steadman, who did not compete in the first event of the new Race to the Crucible series, and opens up a 15 point gap at the top.

Steadman, in second place, remains in the automatic qualification places but is now level on points with Nigel Howe who reached the quarter-finals this weekend.

Event one finalists Wayne Townsend and Alfie Burden climb to fourth and fifth position in the two-year ranking list as a result of their runs to the final – while Gerard Greene, Peter Lines, Philip Williams, Gary Filtness and Matt Ford make up the top ten at this early stage.

Burden Takes Early Lead

Alfie Burden made the perfect start to the Race to the Crucible series with a 4-3 victory in the final of event one against Wayne Townsend.

As a result, Burden picked up the maximum available 24 ranking points and sits at the top of the Race to the Crucible ranking list after the first of nine events staged.

Losing out in a deciding frame of the final means Townsend sits just a single point behind Burden, while semi-finalists Aaron Canavan and Dharminder Lilly lead the chasing pack in third and fourth position respectively.

Filtness Leads Super Seniors

Gary Filtness remains on top of the Super Seniors ranking list as a result of picking up two titles from four events last season.

The gap has been closed to just three points by John Hunter, however, as Filtness did not compete in the Super Seniors event over the weekend which saw Hunter defeat Mukesh Parmar 2-0 in the final.

A run to the final sees Parmar climb to sixth place, behind David Brock, Keith Thomas and Tony Corrigan.

Event 2 of the Race to the Crucible series take place on 27-29 September and entry remains open via WPBSA SnookerScores.

The post WSS Rankings | Event One Update appeared first on WSS | World Seniors Snooker.

• Results

Goggins, a World Snooker Tour professional between 2004 and 2009, came through a field of 33 hopefuls which included 2018 World Seniors champion Aaron Canavan to book his place at snooker’s most iconic venue.

The 45-year-old got his weekend off to a strong start with back-to-back whitewash victories over Kieran O’Donovan and fellow Irishman Tony Corrigan.

In the quarter-finals he met Gary Filtness, who lifted the Super Seniors title in Jersey, and the Englishman twice moved ahead in the best-of-seven frame contest – including firing in an impressive 112 break in the third. Goggins ultimately proved too strong, however, and took the contest 4-2 to set up a last four meeting with Gary Britton.

Britton had already eliminated former champion Canavan at the last sixteen stage, and was looking to claim another scalp as he fought back from 2-0 down to level the contest after four frames.

Goggins was in fine form, however, having opened up the match with a stunning 128 break and eventually battled through a 4-2 victor to reach the title match.

There he met Howe, who had beaten John Leahy, David Brock, Simon Dent and Wayne Townsend to reach the final, but proved no match for Goggins as the experienced Irishman took the title with a comfortable 4-0 victory.

Back-To-Back Super Seniors Glory For Gary Filtness

• Results

Gary Filtness followed up his recent Super Seniors victory in Ireland with further success in Jersey, as he defeated Simon Dent 2-0 in the final to claim the title.

Filtness, who lost out to eventual champion Rodney Goggins in the qualifying event, defeated former professional Andrew Norman 2-0 in his opening match of the Super Seniors and dropped just a single frame en route to the final as he later overcame Raymond Grall and Tony Corrigan.

His opponent in the title match was Dent, who had beaten John Leahy, John Hunter and Karl Townsend to reach the final.

Filtness proved too strong, however, as breaks of 58 and 72 secured the title for the 60-year-old.

The post Joy in Jersey for Rodney Goggins appeared first on WSS | World Seniors Snooker.

• Results

The victory means 2019 UK Seniors champion will return to the Crucible following a one-year absence from the LLP Solicitors World Seniors Championship, having last played at the 2022 event.

The qualifying event, held in Carlow, Ireland, saw twenty-eight players from the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland competing for a coveted spot at the most famous venue in the sport.

Judge, who made three appearance at the Crucible Theatre during his professional career, began his campaign with comfortable 3-1 victories over fellow countrymen James Darcy and Dylan Rees.

The 48-year-old then whitewashed Englishman Neal Jones before another comfortable victory over Tony Corrigan saw him book his place in the final.

On the opposite side of the draw, veteran professional O’Brien was in rampant form as he dropped just two frames on his way to the last four, with a stunning break of 135 completing a 4-1 quarter-final victory over Neil Craycraft. Despite losing the opener in the semi-final, a 4-2 defeat of Englishman Matt Wilson then set up a final meeting with Judge.

The final was a high-qualify affair that featured four half-centuries in six frames, but with breaks of 66, 68 and 71 it was Judge who secured his place at the showpiece event of the World Seniors Snooker calendar.

Super Seniors Success for Filtness

• Results

England’s Gary Filtness was victorious in the Super Seniors 3 event, open to all entrants over-55 years old, which was held alongside the main LLP World Seniors Championship qualifier in Carlow, Ireland.

Filtness, who was eliminted in the last eight of the qualifying event, whitewashed John Maher in the Super Seniors quarter-final before defeating Northern Ireland’s Gregory Cooke to reach the final.

There, he would meet John McCarthy, who had beaten Keith Thomas 2-1 to reach the Super Seniors title match.

Filtness, who reached the last 16 of the 2022 World Seniors Championship, proved too strong in the final and ran out a 2-0 victor to secure the title.

The post Michael Judge Captures Crucible Return appeared first on WSS | World Seniors Snooker.

• View the draw and schedule
• How to watch

Rory McLeod was the first player to advance as he defeated Frank Sarsfield, 3-0. The European Tour event winner made breaks of 51 and 73 during his victory and is set to face Joe Johnson next. 

In what was the tie of the preliminary round, 2011 winner Darren Morgan was made to sweat as he ousted former finalist Patrick Wallace in the tournament’s first deciding frame finish. 

Morgan claimed the opening frame but Wallace responded well by levelling and then taking the third frame on the final black to lead. The Northern Irishman manufactured a 51 break in frame four to put himself on the brink, but Morgan came back to square the match on the final pink. 

Now with the momentum, the former world number eight crafted an effort of 51 in the decider which helped him get across the line and earn a date with tournament favourite Michael Holt. 

In the afternoon session, Bradford-based Wayne Cooper was cheered on by local support as he impressively racked up runs of 54, 70 and 58 on his way to defeating the reigning Pan-American Seniors champion Ahmed Aly, 3-1. New Yorker Aly created history by becoming the first American to play at Crucible Theatre. Cooper comes up against Ken Doherty in the next round.

The 1995 world professional championship runner-up Nigel Bond is no stranger to winning on the one-table set-up in Sheffield, and he notched up another victory under those conditions as he dispatched Stuart Watson 3-0 with the aid of 61 and 67 breaks. Bond, winner of this title in 2012, goes on to challenge John Parrott.

More history was made during the evening session as former world women’s number one Maria Catalano became the first woman to feature in the final stages of a world seniors tour event.  

The five-time world women’s championship finalist gave a fine account of herself – registering a half-century break in the iconic arena – but it was Egypt’s Wael Talaat who was celebrating after a 3-0 win.

The African Seniors champion set his stall out early on with breaks of 40 and 81 in the first frame. Talaat’s prize is an encounter with three-time champion Jimmy White on Friday night.

Three-time London champion and Super Seniors event winner Gary Filtness was the final cueist to book a berth in the last 16 as he caused the upset of the round with a 3-1 success over current main tour professional Michael Judge.

Former UK Seniors champion Judge went 1-0 ahead but Filtness made a 67 break in frame two whilst levelling, before controlling the remainder of the match to record a memorable victory. He’ll look to further his run against current UK Seniors champion Peter Lines in the next round.

Friday sees the start of the last 16 where the seeded players enter the fray. Live coverage can be found on BBC digital channels and Matchroom.Live. 

The post Last 16 Confirmed in 2022 World Seniors Snooker Championship appeared first on WSS | World Seniors Snooker.

• View full results at WPBSA SnookerScores

The event, which represented the first open-entry competition organised by the WPBSA following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, ran across seven days at the Crucible Sports and Social Club in Reading. Eight places at four tournaments were to be won, with a mix of current professionals and amateur players taking part.

World Seniors Championship

Barry Pinches and David Lilley both successfully came through an 86-player draw to secure their places at the venue stages of the World Seniors Championship this May.

Pinches secured his place at the Crucible following a dramatic 4-3 victory against former World Seniors champion Darren Morgan in his final qualifying match. Welshman Morgan had led 2-0 and 3-2, but it was Pinches who claimed the last two frames to secure his return to a venue at which he competed three times as a professional, memorably reaching the last 16 in 2004.

Three-time English Amateur Championship winner Lilley meanwhile produced a high-quality performance to defeat Wayne Townsend 4-2. Breaks of 72, 63, 60 and 60 were enough to see the 45-year-old prevail and earn a debut at snooker’s most famous venue in just a few months time.

UK Seniors Championship

Four places at the UK Seniors Championship in Hull were decided with Barry Pinches, David Lilley, Phil Williams and Kuldesh Johal all making it through to the final four of this week’s qualifying tournament.

For Pinches and Lilley their victories ensured that it was a near-perfect week of snooker as the pair qualified for two of the three available events, with 4-1 victories against Stuart Watson and Mark Gray respectively enough to secure their places at the Bonus Arena.

Both Williams and Johal however were pushed all the way, Williams defeating former world number 42 Andrew Norman in a deciding-frame, while Johal was also a 4-3 winner against Wayne Cooper.

Seniors Masters

Also up for grabs last week were two places at the upcoming Seniors Masters tournament, scheduled to be held at the Alexandra Palace.

The first was claimed by Darren Morgan, who won seven matches, including four against current professional players to win the Masters qualifying tournament. Having defeated Peter Lines, Nigel Bond and Andy Hicks to reach the final, he would deny David Lilley a qualification hat-trick by coming through a deciding-frame to claim the place.

He will be joined there by Gary Filtness, who overcame recent back problems in recent weeks to defeat Ashley Beal 4-0 in the final of the Super Seniors tournament for players aged 55 or over.

Further Information

For further information on the ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Tour please visit the official Facebook page. You can also view the latest WPBSA Group Events Calendar at this website.

The WPBSA and World Seniors Snooker would like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of this week’s tournament during these most challenging of times, including the players, officials and venue staff, without the cooperation of which the event would not have been possible.

The post Success for Seniors Q School appeared first on WSS | World Seniors Snooker.

• View the updated draw
• View results in full

A quarter of a century on from their world final meeting here, Hendry and Nigel Bond dished up an entertaining first round encounter that went all the way.

It was 1996 British Open champion Bond who started the better as he established a 2-0 lead before the Scot responded with a classy 71 break to cut the deficit in half. Hendry then looked like levelling the match up, but a 37 clearance from Bond – featuring a fluke on the pink – put him one away from victory.

The Englishman was in the ascendancy, but an unexpected missed red with the rest when only a few pots away from progression proved to be the start of a momentum shift.

At a venue he made his own throughout his illustrious career, ‘The King of the Crucible’ crafted a determined clearance of 45 to save the match and begin his recovery. With further glimpses of his heyday attributes, Hendry then constructed a run of 77 to force a decider which he came through to set up a date with the 2018 winner of this title, Aaron Canavan.

In an interview with Rob Walker after the match, Hendry admitted to thinking about quitting the tour following a defeat at the UK Seniors Championship in Hull last year. However, he will be encouraged by his performance against Bond, which was arguably his best on the World Seniors circuit to date.

Later in the evening session, one of the pre-tournament favourites Peter Lines comfortably dispatched former world number two Tony Knowles 4-0 to stay on course for a second world seniors crown.

Lines won this competition in 2017 without dropping a single frame and he continued that remarkable sequence here as an effort of 85 helped him book a eye-catching all-professional clash with defending champion Jimmy White.

Earlier in the day reigning UK Seniors champion Michael Judge top scored with 60 as he overcame 1985 world professional champion Dennis Taylor 4-1.

Despite some courageous potting from Taylor – including a fantastic blue that aided him in taking frame four – former world number 24 Judge was relatively untroubled as he kept alive hopes of a unique world and UK double.

Previously in the afternoon session Wayne Cooper made the most of his late call-up to the event as he eventually toppled this season’s Super Seniors number one ranked player Gary Filtness in a meeting of two Crucible debutants.

Playing in his home county, Yorkshireman Cooper registered a high break of 53 and claimed the final two frames to emerge a 4-2 victor. He will face Judge for a place in the final four.

All four quarter-finals will be played on Friday at the Crucible, with the subsequent semis and final bringing the championship to a close on Saturday.

Fans around the world can watch the event live. For the first time the 16-player event will be broadcast live on BBC digital platforms with selected matches available on the ‘Red Button’. Coverage in China will be shown on major digital TV platforms and elsewhere the event will be available on the  Matchroom.Live network.

Go to Matchroom.Live to register. The Matchroom Live platform was launched in May, giving fans across the planet the chance to watch live content from the outstanding portfolio of Matchroom sports, including snooker, darts, boxing, pool and many more. There is also a wealth of classic archive content featuring great moments from the past 40 years.

The post Vintage Hendry Bests Bond at Crucible appeared first on WSS | World Seniors Snooker.

• View knockout draw
• View match schedule

Played behind closed doors, for the first time the 16-player event will be broadcast live on BBC digital platforms with selected matches available on the ‘Red Button’. Coverage in China will be shown on major digital TV platforms and across the USA via the Matchroom.Live network.

The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on major sporting schedules all over the globe and although the World Seniors Snooker Tour (WSST) has not been immune either, it is able to stage its annual flagship tournament, building on the success of recent editions.

With certain international competitors unable to travel and qualifying events cancelled, this year’s qualification process has changed, but there is no substitute for the drama, entertainment and quality we expect throughout the four days in Sheffield.

The Top Half

Defending champion Jimmy White has been the dominant force on the seniors scene in recent years having collected several titles including the big one last summer at the Crucible after a tense 5-3 victory over Darren Morgan in the final. Aiming for a hat-trick of world seniors crowns – he also won it in 2010 – White begins against fellow Eurosport colleague Joe Johnson.

The pair last met here in 2019 during the Seniors Masters where Johnson won via a black ball tiebreaker. Like his 1986 world professional triumph, the Yorkshireman went on to defy the odds by lifting the trophy on that occasion too.

Former world number two Tony Knowles will strut his stuff on snooker’s grandest stage again when he faces Peter Lines. In a recent change to tour eligibility, world number 120 Lines earns his spot here by virtue of claiming this accolade in Scunthorpe in 2017 when he didn’t drop a frame en route.

Aaron Canavan was the somewhat unexpected victor in 2018 following a memorable comeback in the final. The Jersey cueist will be out for revenge when he faces Leo Fernandez in the first round. Attempting to retain the title here 12 months ago, Canavan was dethroned by former professional and English amateur champion Fernandez in the last eight.

Another duo with Crucible history are seven-time world professional champion Stephen Hendry and Nigel Bond, who is the fourth person in this half to have this title already on his resume.

Known as the ‘King of the Crucible’, Hendry owned this venue in the 1990s, denying Bond in the 1995 final and also getting the better of him in the semi-finals the subsequent year. Despite being a WSST regular, Hendry has yet to reach a final on it and there would be no better time to end that run than here.

World Seniors champion in 2012, 54-year-old Bond is still enjoying the sport’s top tier – an unbroken 31 years on since his debut debut – and will have fond memories of their last Crucible clash in 2006 when he memorably won 10-9 on a dramatic re-spotted black.

The Bottom Half

The first match in a distinctly Irish themed bottom half of the draw is an all-Republic clash between Ken Doherty and former main tour exponent Rodney Goggins.

Doherty – winner of the UK Seniors Championship in 2018 – will be looking to add a fourth segment to his world junior, amateur and professional championships portfolio. Second in the world seniors rankings, Goggins will be making his Crucible debut.

In yet another hard-to-call opening round affair, Wales’ 2011 champion and last year’s runner-up Darren Morgan will be seeking to go one further here but first has to negotiate 2018 defeated finalist Patrick Wallace. The Northern Irishman will be setting foot back in the arena for the first time since his run to the world professional quarter-finals over 19 years ago – his only previous appearance.

Two players ready for a big opportunity and their maiden Crucible berths are this season’s Super Seniors number one ranked player Gary Filtness and Sheffield’s own Wayne Cooper, who recently replaced Tony Drago after the Maltese legend made the difficult decision not to travel on health grounds.

Number two seed for this event, but number one in the world seniors rankings, Michael Judge will be a serious contender for this crown having won the UK Seniors Championship at the Bonus Arena in Hull back in October. Judge’s bid to complete a unique world and UK double starts with a meeting against 1985 world professional champion Dennis Taylor.

All matches throughout the championship are the best of seven frames, except for the final which will be the best of nine.

Follow updates here at wpbsa.com, or view tournament information online via WPBSA SnookerScores.

Article by Michael Day.

The post ROKiT Phones World Seniors Snooker Championship 2020: Tournament Preview appeared first on WSS | World Seniors Snooker.

• UK Seniors Snooker Championship Qualifier 2 results
• Super Seniors Event 1 results

Held at Barratts Snooker Club in Northampton, 64 players representing eight different countries entered the three-day knockout competition aiming to secure a coveted place in the main UK Seniors draw.

Former world number 24 Judge, who as an amateur reached the final qualifying round of the professional World Championship in April, didn’t drop a frame in an opening trio of wins against Lee Taylor, Dennis Tristram and Rhydian Richards. Judge then eliminated Wayne Cooper 3-1 in the quarter-finals and world seniors number two ranked player Jonathan Bagley 4-1 in the semis.

The final would be an all-Irish affair as ex-professional Leo Fernandez – a semi-finalist in Hull last year – made his way through the draw, ousting countryman Rodney Goggins 4-3 in the last four.

Honours were even after the first two frames of the final before a high quality third frame saw Judge counter-attack with a 72 clearance to overhaul an earlier effort of 68 from his opponent. He subsequently extended his advantage, and whilst Fernandez chalked up frame five, Judge crossed the line in the next for a 4-2 victory.

Judge follows in the footsteps of Goggins who denied him in the final of qualifying event one last month in Bruges, Belgium. There are two further UK qualifying opportunities for hopefuls in the coming months with tournaments in Jersey and Hull itself, both in September. Jimmy White, winner of the UK Seniors Championship in 2017, and Stephen Hendry, are two of the iconic names confirmed for the venue stages later in the year.

The first ever World Seniors ‘Super Seniors’ event for players over 55 also took place at Barratts on Sunday. Gary Filtness defeated Andrew Darken and Ian Spawton before seeing off tour debutant Colin Mitchell 2-0 in the final.

To view results from all events on the ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Tour visit the World Seniors section on snookerscores.net

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