• 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 all the draw and full results at snookerscores.net

The culmination to the 2018/19 ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Tour, the championship will feature 20 players representing 14 different nations and five continents, each of whom are aiming to lift the iconic trophy and pocket the £25,000 first prize

Over the past nine months, several qualifying events open to all amateur players aged 40 or above have taken place in Europe, North America and Asia. These qualifiers will line up alongside the seeded star names, wildcards, national and continental nominations in the draw.

Top Half

Reigning champion Aaron Canavan will begin his title defence with a tricky tie against Hong Kong’s experienced Au Chi Wai, who came through the competitive Chinese qualifying event in Beijing.

The Jersey cueman enjoyed the best moment of his career last year in Scunthorpe when he came from behind to pip Patrick Wallace on a tie-breaker black in the final. Elsewhere in the top quarter, former professional Leo Fernandez faces the current Dutch national champion Joris Maas – winner of the Toronto qualifying event.

World professional champion in 1991, John Parrott returns to the scene of his greatest triumph to play either Willie Thorne or Darren Morgan; one of four preliminary round ties. Winner of this title in 2011, Morgan will be fancied by many to do well in Sheffield as he remains active and very successful on the amateur scene both at home and abroad.

Completing the top half is the ‘King of the Crucible’ Stephen Hendry. The seven-time world champion used to ‘own’ this venue in the nineties; he will be hoping to reignite that bullishness again as he tries to kick-start a seniors career that has not yet seen the Scot return to winning ways. Meeting him in the last 16 will be one of the sport’s most well-known non-UK players – Malta’s Tony Drago or Oceania nomination Dene O’Kane from New Zealand.

Bottom Half

Just four months ago Joe Johnson overcame the odds at the Crucible once again when he lifted the Seniors Masters trophy.

The 67-year-old, who memorably won snooker’s biggest accolade in 1986 when he outplayed Steve Davis in the final, is also guaranteed to play an ‘overseas’ player in the form of either Asia’s first ranking event winner and superstar James Wattana or Egyptian Wael Talaat, three times an African champion.

Former world champion Cliff Thorburn knows what it is like to win at the Crucible in different periods having preceded Johnson as the Seniors Masters title holder. The Canadian will discover his opponent when former world number two Tony Knowles and Chinese nomination Chen Gang open the tournament up on Thursday morning.

In the final quarter of the draw, Dennis Taylor – the fifth and final world professional champion in the event – will cross cues with Stuart Watson, who emerged from the Jersey qualifier last  November.

Jimmy White, for whom the Crucible harbors so many bittersweet memories, will be trying to claim his second world seniors championship following victory in 2010.

Evergreen White and his legion of fans would dearly love him lift a trophy here, and the signs should be positive after securing consecutive titles at the Irish Seniors Masters and Seniors 6-Red World Championship earlier this term.

However, he will have a stern test when going up against Welshman Rhydian Richards in round one; the first qualifier to have booked their berth in Sheffield.

In a change to last year’s edition, there will be no tie-breaker black should the scores reach 2-2, or 3-3 in the final. The entire 2019 ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Championship will be shown live on FreeSports TV and on SuperStar Online in China.

Women’s, Disability Sessions

The event will also see special sessions staged during the final weekend to promote the activities of World Women’s Snooker and World Disability Billiards and Snooker. Taking place at 10:00am on Saturday 17^th and Sunday 18^th August respectively, each session will see four leading players from each tour compete at the home of snooker.

Tickets for these sessions are still available for just £1.47 when purchased with a full-price ticket to a session of the ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Championship.

Tickets for all sessions are available here: http://bit.ly/SheffieldSeniorsTickets

The post ROKiT World Seniors Snooker Championship 2019: Tournament Preview appeared first on WSS | World Seniors Snooker.