By Elliott West
“That is my last competitive match ever and what a way to finish here at The Crucible. I’ve enjoyed every minute of the Seniors Tour but there’s no way I can compete with these youngsters. My competitive days are now over.”
Dennis Taylor
Introduction
With another day of action from the World Seniors on the cards, this tournament continued to produce some vintage names and the prospect of some interesting matches. The Crucible is a powerful theatre that either in snooker or entertainment form, produces excellence in everything it showcases. These players bring back so many memories and probably a few personal ones too. A tournament that gets better every year it is played, it combines snooker with nostalgia, a winning formula.
Afternoon Play
Two of my dear friends were up first, Ken Doherty and Joe Johnson. A game that I would be happy if either won. Sadly Joe couldn’t produce any of his flair that had produced a victory in the World Seniors Masters final against Barry Pinches in 2019. Doherty kicked off the match with a great clearance of 102. Crafty Ken as he is nicknamed in the sport, didn’t have to wait long to take a 2-0 lead and thanks to a break of 55, polished off the match with a 3-0 whitewash. A great start for Ken, accompanied by a 92.55% pot success.
This was quickly followed by a great contest between two legends of the game, Barry Pinches and Dennis Taylor. Pinches, who recently fell off the main tour and has to try and qualify again through Q School, quickly put his nerves behind him, producing a 69 break in the first frame to lead 1-0. Dennis, clearly rusty from lack of practice due to hours of time in the commentary box for the recent World Championship, did produce some good long balls pots, a great red to the middle pocket and a cheeky plant.
However it was Barry who got the run of the ball and perhaps Taylor would have pinched the odd frame if the snooker pendulum had swung in the other direction. Pinches literally pinched any chance Dennis had and it wasn’t long before he wrapped up the match with another whitewash 3-0 with a high break in the match of 74. A win that Pinches later admitted that he was in awe of his opponent and had never played Taylor as a professional.
The match was tinged with sadness, as Taylor revealed in his post-match interview with Rob Walker that he would be retiring from competitive snooker. An announcement that brought a lump to my throat as Dennis was shown the final black again the 1985 final and the jubilation that ensued. This was followed by a photo opportunity with the other players and pictures with the World Championship trophy.
Evening Session
First up, were two legends of snooker, Tony Knowles and Jimmy White. As you would expect, Jimmy dominated this match and took the first frame 70-28. A similar second frame followed with White knocking in a nice 72 break (78-13) and it wasn’t until the third frame that Tony was able to get a chance. If the match hadn’t been the best of five, then maybe Knowles would have performed a lot better but these short format matches punish you if you don’t get out of the blocks early. The last frame finished 59-53 but Tiny couldn’t eek out the frame and by then the Whirlwind had blown him away 3-0. Jimmy now faces Darren Morgan.
In the second match of the session, Brazil’s Igor Figueiredo was up against John Parrott. Parrott dips in and out of these events and seems to struggle with the table speed and getting used to his specially made glasses. Up against Igor, who performed very well in the World Championship qualifiers, just losing out in the last round, Parrott again struggled and the World Seniors often exposes who still plays on the tour and those who are just not match sharp.
Igor quickly ran up a 2-0 advantage, thanks to a stylish break of 39 (97-38 & 84-33). Although the high breaks were low scoring, a 41 for Figueiredo and a 31 for Parrott, Igor comfortably win the match 3-0 and at the end of the day, potted more balls than John (71-32). He will now face Stephen Hendry.
