By Elliott West
‘You know what, that was one of the most painful defeats of my career’.
Ken Doherty commenting after his shock defeat to Jimmy White at last year’s World Seniors
Introduction
The World Seniors tour has gone from strength to strength in recent years and after a period of Coronavirus restrictions, returns again for another few days at the Crucible. Before the dust can settle from Mark Selby’s victory at the World Championship, the riggers and fitters were already getting the stage ready on Bank Holiday Monday night for some of the leading lights of yesteryear to return to a venue that brought them elation and disappointment.
The Path to Victory
With a thrilling final last year, when Ken Doherty led in the final 4-0 but was blasted off the table by Jimmy White to win in a thrilling finish 5-4. This year, the likes of Patsy Fagan, Ken Doherty, Stephen Hendry, Tony Knowles, Joe Johnson, Darren Morgan, John Parrott, Barry Pinches, and Dennis Taylor, are joined by Igor Figueiredo, Michael Judge, David Lilley, Patrick Wallace, and Philip Williams. Each vying for the prized claret jug and the title of World Seniors champion.
Some may struggle with the fast Star table but the tournament will not be played with an audience. This may suit others but the glare of the television lights and scrutiny of the cameras will always be present. Some matches will be slow and others fast but it seems likely that Judge, Doherty, Wallace, and White, will go deep into this tournament and it seems one of them could win the title. Don’t overlook Tony Knowles either. Recently he has been playing very well and I heard he has been practicing with Ronnie O’Sullivan. A formidable player in his times, Tony is perfectly capable of conjuring up some that Crucible magic we remember him for.
Michael Judge and Patrick Wallace have also done well in these Seniors events and Judge already has a title. The pressure will definitely be on Jimmy White to retain his title but he does seem to thrive in these tournaments, maybe not to his previous standard but high enough to be a crowd pleaser and to zip that cue ball where few can get it to travel to. Jimmy still has it in practice and produces patches of elegance on the match table.
The players still on the main tour have an advantage but anything can happen on the day in snooker and shocks are always possible. We in the United Kingdom love nostalgia and the World Seniors is brimming with it. Like a fine wine, the vintage gets better and better every year. The events bring back memories from long-terms fans and introduce newer ones to players that may have only heard of and never seen play. They be older but a snooker player never forgets their craft, some being persuaded to blow the dust off their cue and compete once more.
The challenge begins tomorrow and by Sunday night we will know the winner. Believe me, having attended two of these Crucible tournaments, the players taking part, take it extremely seriously and give it their all when they are out there in the live environment. Snooker always wins the day and how better ham to spend it in the company of these giants of the sport.
