By Elliott West
Introduction
On a day when we get to the true heart of this tournament, the quarter-finals were sure to produce the odd surprise. Players who compete in this tournament, take it very seriously and are determined to get to the latter stages of this event but sometimes the stumbling block, is their opponent. Experience can teach you many things but it can’t always produce a victory.This bitter taste of defeat was experienced by some of those that competed at this stage.
Afternoon Session
First up to the green baize in this afternoon session, was a meeting between Stephen Hendry and Brazil’s Igor Figueiredo. Igor, who has been practicing a lot recently, seemed a potential threat to the Scot, who has yet to make an impact since his return from his retirement. Perhaps the former World Champion thought this was an ideal opportunity to stamp his mark on this match but he was to be bitterly disappointed.
Hendry made a promising start, taking the first frame with a break of 76 but unfortunately it was all downhill from that point forwards. Stephen, a perfectionist, was already fuming that he hadn’t made a century break in the first frame and Figueiredo sensed his frustration, seizing his opportunity to take the second frame with a couple of scoring visits, to level the match up to 1-1.
From that point, Igor snapped into gear and produced a fine century break in the third to take a 2-1 advantage and then the frames just stacked up against his opponent. Figueiredo emerged a 4-1 victor but questions have been raised of why a 43 year old can compete in a Seniors event and shouldn’t the entry age be increased? This crushing defeat for Hendry again exposes his fragility as a player. He needs to start producing results because he can’t hide behind his record forever.
Next up, was Barry Pinches against Patrick Wallace. Pinches, despite the nerves of having to play one of his snooker heroes for the first time, despatched Dennis Taylor very easily 3-0 previously. However, his next opponent, Patrick Wallace was a different kettle of fish. Wallace took the first frame with a 59 break but Pinches was able to make it 1-1, thanks to a break of 83.
The pendulum then swung between the two players with both sharing the next two frames to make it 2-2 but Wallace edged ahead in the next to make it 3-2. This was the incentive that Patrick needed and he clinched the required frame to claim victory over Barry Pinches. A victory that put him in the semi-finals with the first winner, Igor Figueiredo.
Evening Session
In a repeat of the 2019 final, Darren Morgan was pitched against Jimmy White. Jimmy had spent his afternoon practicing under the watchful eye of Patsy Fagan. With Leo Scullion as the overseer, Jimmy got off to a good start and took the first frame (109-1). Darren managed to pull one back to bring the score to 1-1 with a fantastic break of 134 without reply but this is where the good luck stopped. White reeled off the next three frames ( 67-66 (55), 71-57 and 58-1 ) to win the match 4-1. A great run for this three-times Seniors and puts his chances of repeating back to back victories very high, especially with a 90.91% pot success. He will now play Igor Figueiredo in the semi-finals.
In the other evening match, Ken Doherty was drawn against David Lilley. Lilley took the first frame with a clearance of 31 and then extended his lead to 2-0. On the brink of falling 3-0 behind, Doherty pulled one out of the bag with a clearance of 63 to trail 2-1. Lilley then capitalised on a miss by Ken and made a clearance of 55 to be one frame away from the semi-finals at 3-1.
Doherty then fought back after David miscued to keep his chances alive in the match and the tournament. At 3-2 and then 3-3, this encounter became very interesting and it all came down to a single frame. A nerve-jangler where Lilley got the better of Doherty and denied him a step closer to the title. He will now play Patrick Wallace in the semi-finals.
