By Elliott West
‘He played very well, he’s very strong, I was lucky to get back to 3 each.
‘I had a chance to go 4-3 up, but listen, he deserved to win. He played well.’
Jimmy White
Introduction
On the final day of another very successful World Seniors at the Crucible, four players remained to battle it out and as the organisation slogan states ‘Dare to Dream’ of winning this year’s title. With Jimmy White still in the mix and the current holder for the last three years, it would take a very good player to beat him and to reach the final. This was a plot that unfolded across the day, where a flurry of matches were played in the semi-finals and concluded with the much anticipated final.
Semi-Finals
In the first of the semi-finals, the very talented Igor Figueiredo met one of the game’s greats, Jimmy White. In a match, where both players liked to play at a fast pace, Jimmy got off to a good start, winning the first frame with a break of 60 and quickly took the second to make it 2-0. However Igor was not deterred and thanks to breaks of 36 and 44, put his first frame on the board. However, this is where the glimmer of victory got snubbed out with White reeling off two frames in a row to win the match 4-1 (93-1 & 96-24).
To find out who would join Jimmy in the final, one more semi-final match had to be played and concluded. On this occasion, it was between David Lilley and Patrick Wallace. Patrick took the first frame 60-19 but David managed to take the second frame 103-24 with a break of 65. Wallace was then faced with an early bath as Lilley swept into the final with breaks of 56, 89 and 69, presenting the prospect of potential new winner for this title.
The Final
In a long awaited final, the odds seemed to be stacked up against David Lilley. This was a match for Lilley to win and Jimmy White to defend. However never underestimate an underdog, especially a player as good as David Lilley. In a final that panned out in some ways the same as last year, Lilley leapt to a 3-0 advantage with a 16-76, 44-52, 18-69 score line and high break of 74.
Despite this deficit, Jimmy found that form that inspired him last year against Ken Doherty and took the next three frames to level up the match to 3-3 (85-0, 113-7 & 110-32 with breaks of 85, 63 and 56. This was the crunch point in the match and either player could have taken advantage but Lilley was the strongest of the two players in the last two frames and won them comfortably, 49-63 and 20-77 with a break of 69 to claim the golden claret and the title of 2021 World Seniors champion with a 5-3 victory over Jimmy White.
This victory opens so many doors for David Lilley, allowing him to compete in the Champion of Champions next season. Warmly congratulated by Jimmy, White knows what it is like to win and how a player can often spend a period in the wilderness before that certain something clicks into place and everything goes right for you. This could be the start of something very good for David Lilley and he may take positive thoughts from this victory and produce another spectacular win in the near future. Time will tell.
