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A winner of the World Seniors Snooker Championship in 2017, 52-year-old Lines defeated reigning world seniors champion David Lilley 4-1 in the final at the Bonus Arena. Still a main tour exponent, Lines continues his good form having reached the last 16 of the UK Professional Championship in York six weeks ago.

Lines’ journey to glory began last summer when he emerged from a tough qualifying event at the Crucible Sports Club in Reading. By the Humber this week, the experienced Yorkshireman dethroned defending champion Michael Judge 3-1 in the opening round before a 4-1 success against close friend and fellow qualifier Kuldesh Johal in the last eight.

On finals day he defeated 2018 winner Ken Doherty 4-2 to set up a title showdown with Lilley, who was aiming to be the first player to hold both the world and UK seniors trophies at the same time. Having not dropped a frame in his first two matches, Lilley came back from 3-1 down to deny Jimmy White in the other last four tie during the afternoon session.

Lilley had been impressive during the tournament and he began the final well by claiming the opening frame before a break of 60 looked to have secured him a 2-0 lead. However, in what would prove to be a massive turning point, a determined Lines clawed his way back in the frame, eventually completing a gutsy 27 clearance to pinch it on the final black.

This was a catalyst for the current world number 82 as he chalked up frames either side of the mid-session interval and then crafted a decisive counter-attacking break of 47 to win frame five on the final pink.

Lines now follows in the footsteps of White in claiming both the world and UK seniors titles.

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Won by Peter Lines yesterday in Hull, the tournament saw all 15 matches completed on the latest Xing Pai table as part of an ongoing partnership with WSS.

Xing Pai is also the official table supplier to the professional World Snooker Tour and is recognised globally as the leading manufacturer of billiard tables.

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• View tournament information via WPBSA SnookerScores

The World Seniors Snooker Tour event began with defending champion Michael Judge exiting the tournament after losing 3-1 to fellow main tour professional Peter Lines.

Lines – world seniors champion in 2017 – settled any early nerves he may have had with an 81 break in frame one, although Irishman Judge levelled up by claiming a scrappy second frame. However, the Yorkshireman, who reached the last 16 of the recent UK Championship, ousted the third on the final pink and then sealed victory with the fourth.

Later in the afternoon session, Ken Doherty kept his hopes of a second UK seniors title alive with a 3-0 success over Lee Walker in another all-professional affair.

The 2018 champion – who wasn’t in the event 12 months later to defend – secured the first frame on the colours and made a crucial break of 30 up to and including the final pink to shade the second. Doherty then completed the win with a classy 64 clearance in the third.

Play resumed in the evening session where serial seniors event winner Jimmy White booked his place in the last eight with a 3-1 triumph over WSST tour number one Patrick Wallace.

Wallace was a late replacement for Tony Drago and he threatened an upset when he took the opener, although three-time world and 2017 UK seniors champion White found his groove, leaving his opponent pointless in the next two frames with the aid of 88 and 80 breaks. The ever-popular Londoner then wrapped up victory with the fourth frame.

White’s opponent in the last eight will be qualifier Wayne Cooper who registered a memorable 3-0 win over former world and UK professional champion John Parrott in the final match of the day.

One of the successful players to emerge from a qualifying event in Reading last year, the 46-year-old from Bradford got off to a dream start with a run of 102 before later registering a relatively comfortable passage through.

The action continues from 12:00pm GMT on Wednesday.

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• Follow the latest results from Hull via WPBSA SnookerScores

Last played in 2019 at the same venue, the championship will see the return of live fans at a seniors event, with the previous two World Championship events at the Crucible Theatre having been played behind closed doors.

The 16-player field is made up of automatic seeds and those who came through qualifying events in Reading last year. First round matches are the best of five frames, with the following matches up to and including the semi-finals the best of seven frames. The final on Friday night  will be the best of nine.

Live coverage throughout will be shown on the BBC iPlayer and via the Red Button.

Top Half

Reigning champion Michael Judge has had to wait a long time to defend his title and he will break off the competition on Tuesday afternoon.

Judge defeated Jimmy White in the final here back in October 2019 and has since returned to the professional circuit after coming through last year’s Q School. The Irishman will face fellow main tour exponent and former world seniors champion, Peter Lines.

Eighth seed Cliff Thorburn is able to travel from Canada for the championship – his first appearance on the seniors circuit for a couple of years. The 2018 Seniors Masters winner has a tough opening round tie against ex-professional Kuldesh Johal who lost to Judge in the final round of a Q School event last summer.

A five-time winner of the professional UK Championship, Stephen Hendry is still looking to reach his first final at seniors level. Hendry faces a potentially difficult first round tie here against 2019 Seniors Masters runner-up Barry Pinches, although the Scot does lead their career head-to-head record, 4-0.

Another meeting between current professionals will be Ken Doherty versus Lee Walker. A three-time finalist in the professional version, Doherty finally won a UK title here in 2018 when he defeated Igor Figueiredo in the title match to become the seniors champion, although the Dubliner was not in the competition the following year to defend.

Bottom Half

Jimmy White looks to further his unrivalled success on the World Seniors Snooker Tour, but he first has to negotiate current seniors number one ranked player Patrick Wallace who is a late replacement for Tony Drago who was unable to travel due to being in close contact with someone with Covid-19.

Three-time world seniors champion White won this title in 2017 in Redhill. A few months later in the same season, Northern Irishman Wallace reached the final of the World Seniors Championship where he was ousted by Aaron Canavan.

The 1991 UK Professional Champion, John Parrott is seeking his maiden seniors title. Runner-up to Lines in the 2017 world seniors championship, Parrott begins his campaign in Hull against Wayne Cooper, who is becoming a regular qualifier for the venue stages of WSST competitions.

Joe Johnson does have a seniors title on his CV. The 2019 Seniors Masters winner will share the baize with Rod Lawler, who has qualified for the main draw of a WSST event for the first time.

At the bottom of the draw is number two seed David Lilley – the current world seniors champion.

No player has yet to hold both the world and UK seniors titles at the same time, therefore Lilley will be attempting to write new history on the tour. He comes up against an in-form Philip Williams, who also recently qualified for the World Seniors Championship.

Article by Michael Day.

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The UK Seniors Snooker Championship runs from the 4–7 January at the Bonus Arena in Hull.

The World Seniors Snooker Championship returns to the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield between the 4–8 May.

All the games will be available on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app, giving snooker fans free-to-air coverage for those in the UK.

The events will feature the likes of Jimmy White, Stephen Hendry and Ken Doherty as well as Qualifiers from Asia, Pan America, Europe, Oceania and Africa.

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Set to return to the Bonus Arena, Hull from 4-7 January, the tournament will see an all-star field including seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry, 10-time ranking event winner Jimmy White, 2018 UK champion Ken Doherty and defending champion Michael Judge contest the prestigious title.

Further information, including ticket details is available HERE.

Last 16 Draw

Michael Judge v Peter Lines
Cliff Thorburn v Kuldesh Johal
Stephen Hendry v Barry Pinches
Ken Doherty v Lee Walker
Jimmy White v Tony Drago
John Parrott v Wayne Cooper
Joe Johnson v Rod Lawler
David Lilley v Philip Williams

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Due to the continuing challenges and restrictions for overseas travel, a decision has been made to delay the competition.

The event would have been the first to take place at the Bonus Arena, Hull since March 2020.

However, a decision has been taken to delay the tournament – set to feature Jimmy White, Joe Johnson and Ken Doherty – from 12-15 August to 4-7 January 2022.

It is hoped the international snooker legends based overseas will be able to take part by moving the event to next year.

Jason Francis said: “We are desperately disappointed to have to make this decision so close to the event but the current challenges post pandemic continue to affect us. The good news is Seniors Snooker will return to Hull in early January and some of our overseas stars should now be able to travel and play on these new dates.”​

Tickets already purchased for the event remain valid for the equivalent new dates in January. The full draw for the event will take place next month.

https://www.bonusarenahull.com/whats-on/uk-seniors-snooker-2021/​

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Around 70 players are set to feature in two separate knockout events (Event One: 20-22 July / Event Two: 23-25 July) with the finalists of both winning a lucrative ticket into the 16-player main draw.

The venue stages of the UK Seniors Championship will once again be held at the Bonus Arena in Hull between the 12th-15th August. Amongst those already scheduled to be there include defending champion Michael Judge, former winners Jimmy White and Ken Doherty, seven-times world champion Stephen Hendry and newly crowned world seniors champion David Lilley who triumphed at the Crucible Theatre in May.

The Line-Up

Several well-known cueists will be in Reading next week aiming to claim one of those four qualification berths.

The number one seed is seniors stalwart Patrick Wallace who reached the last four in Sheffield a couple of months ago.

Former world seniors champions Darren Morgan and Aaron Canavan will both be present, as too will former event finalists at this level, Tony Chappel and Johnathan Bagley.

Professional players ranked outside of the world’s top 64 are permitted to enter, an opportunity that Alfie Burden, Igor Figueiredo, Gerard Greene, Rory McLeod, Lee Walker and 2017 World Seniors Champion Peter Lines have all taken advantage of.

Former world number two Tony Knowles – fresh from an impressive display at Q-School – and 1977 UK Professional Champion Patsy Fagan will both be taking out their cues again. Former professional ranking finalists Dean Reynolds and Rod Lawler are also set to be in the mix.

Super Seniors

Towards the end of the week, there will also be the latest events from the Super Seniors circuit, open to players aged 55 and over.

Competing for prize money and all-important ranking points, both tournaments feature 16 players and include former English Professional Championship finalist Les Dodd, Morgan and the current Super Seniors number one Gary Filtness.

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To begin at the upcoming UK Seniors Championship which is set to run from 12-15 August at the Bonus Arena in Hull, the initiative will allow businesses in the city to purchase 50 discounted tickets for the event, which will go to local organisations to distribute to residents who will be able to attend the tournament.

Host venue the Bonus Arena has become the first company to sign up to the scheme and will donate 50 tickets to the opening session of the tournament on 12 August.

World Seniors Chairman Jason Francis is quoted by the BusinessWorks website:

“Our research shows that loneliness is likely to increase your risk of death by 29%, and half a million older people go at least five or six days a week without seeing or speaking to anyone at all.

“By partnering with the Lord Mayor and Hull City Council we want to reach out to businesses in the city and work with them to bring in 50 people for a day out at the snooker where they can meet our stars but more importantly each other. These businesses will join our heroes wall and receive promotion of their company and their involvement in the scheme during the tournament which will be broadcast live on television.”

If your company is interested in taking part in the scheme, please contact the Bonus Arena team by email at hull@eu.asmglobal.com.

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• 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.

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