By Elliott West
“It’s a dream come true,” he said. “There is a lot of pressure out there. I wanted to win, Jimmy wanted to win”.
Lee Walker
Introduction
The World Seniors can be compared to that last Christmas present under the tree, a final swan song to the snooker season and a tournament where players of the past and a few that still compete on the tour gather to battle it out for the World Seniors title at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. Played over five days and with a shorter frame format, this year produced some superb matches with a standard that seems to improve year after year. In the end though, the final would end bring between the three times World Seniors’ champion Jimmy White who was clearly up for the fight, having been practising for up to three hours a day prior to the start of the competition and an embattled Lee Walker who came back from the brink in two of his matches to reach this stage.
The Final
Jimmy White had produced some vintage snooker in his semi-final match with Peter Lines, freezing his opponent Peter Lines out of the game and inflicting a 4-0 defeat on him. Whereas Lee Walker had to really fight in his game with the reigning champion Peter Lilley. 3-0 down, Walker looked on paper like a lame-duck but dug deep and produced a miraculous comeback, levelling the match at 3-3 thanks to potting the final black in a dramatic sixth frame. A match that the Welshman went on to win 4-3. Perhaps his previous game against Ken Doherty had helped him find this inner strength after he similarly came back from 2-0 down.
This was a final that gave Jimmy White a headache. He looked favourite coming into the match and despite just turning sixty, can still play to a high standard. However, Lee Walker was never going to be someone that simply rolled over in a match. Like a snapping terrier, he snarls and barks until he gets his own way. This was a match of nip and tuck that went 1-0 to Jimmy, 1-1, 2-1 and then 3-1 to White.
However, this dominance by the Whirlwind would soon begin to evaporate as once again Lee Walker launched a comeback after the interval. In the balls, Jimmy made a 40 break but Lee punished the Londoner’s poor safety and made a 72 break to narrow the gap to 3-2. After a dramatic next frame, White was in touching distance of the title, taking the frame to go 4-2.
This was the turning point in the match and perhaps Jimmy saw the winning line too soon because his opponent kicked into gear and won two frames, sealing the set-up of a deciding frame with a 79 break. A deciding frame that Walker shined in and made his own, sealing the deal with a superb 83 break and a 5-4 victory.
Afterthoughts
I had a feeling that Lee Walker would win the Seniors. He frankly fought the hardest and deserved the fruits of his labour. A brilliant coach who works with Jackson Page and who co-manages the Mark Williams Snooker Club, Walker had to put all his coaching skills into practice to win this title and I know he has been working with a Mind Performance Coach, Noel Flannery on the mental and physical side of his game. An 18/1 outsider at the start of this tournament and who beat Knowles, Hendry, Doherty, Lilley and White to claim the title. This clearly worked and must feel like a great achievement for himself, especially winning it at the Crucible. A win that was celebrated by an initial punch in the air and given a standing ovation. Smiles filled the stage as he stood proudly with his son Noah and the trophy. He is the Ways World Seniors champion and can now go and celebrate his win on a trip to Las Vegas, one where he and a number of players are going out to celebrate Mark Davis’ birthday.
