White Storms Into Round Two and Doherty Sets Up Meeting with O’Sullivan

Jimmy White kept his hopes of a record-extending fifth JenningsBet World Seniors Snooker Championship title alive with a 4-1 opening round victory over Daniel Ward on Thursday afternoon.

‘The Whirlwind’ capitalised on a nervy start from the Crucible Theatre debutant, who won the Golden Ticket qualifier to reach this stage, to race into a 3-0 lead before getting over the line in the fifth to set up a second round meeting with Robert Milkins on Thursday evening.

There was black ball shootout drama in the same session as Ken Doherty overcame Gerard Greene to set up a first ever Crucible contest against Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Doherty had trailed 3-2 to Gerard Greene, but fired in a break of 88 to force a shootout decider before potting the final black to advance.

Also on Thursday afternoon, an impressive display from Dominic Dale saw him sweep aside Wayne Townsend 4-0 with a top break of 92 while Peter Lines held off a comeback from ‘The Sheriff of Pottingham’ Anthony Hamilton to win 4-2.

The action began on Wednesday evening as Craig Steadman, Roger Farebrother and former World Seniors champions Igor Figueiredo and Aaron Canavan each advanced in a session that concluded after midnight.

The biggest story of the opening day came from Crucible Theatre debutant Farebrother, who stunned two-time World Seniors Championship semi-finalist Tony Drago by defeating ‘The Tornado’ 4-2.

The second round action begins at 7pm BST on Thursday evening. How to watch.