By Elliott West
Introduction
As the dust of the Christmas festivities settles, what better way to be entertained than with a mini snooker tournament that involves some of the true legends of snooker? To be held at Epsom Downs Racecourse on Friday 29 December 2023 and televised live on Channel 5 from noon, Ken Doherty, Joe Johnson, Stephen Hendry, Tony Knowles, Dennis Taylor and Jimmy White join John Virgo for a feast of snooker. Organised by World Seniors, this day of snooker lifts its curtains for the first time, treating its viewing audience to watch snooker players who were involved in the Golden Age of snooker.
Format
This World Seniors has a unique format where the players will clash in 15-minute, one-frame matches under shot-clock conditions. Should the frame not be completed at the end of the allocated 15 minutes, then the player in the lead will win the frame. Played with a spotted cueball, players just have twenty seconds per shot and there are no extensions or time-outs unless the referee deems it so. Players will need to react and act fast unlike traditional snooker.
The six competitors have been drawn into two round-robin groups of three and in each group, the players will face each other once. The two top players from each group will advance to the knockout semi-finals which will commence following the completion of the groups stage. The winner of Group A will play the runner-up of Group B and the two winning semi-finalists will then meet in the final. Should all players be level on one win each following the completion of the group, the player who compiled the highest break in that respective group will finish top of the group. The player who made the second-highest break of the group will qualify as the runner-up.
Group A
- Jimmy White
- Stephen Hendry
- Dennis Taylor
Group B
- Ken Doherty
- Tony Knowles
- Joe Johnson
