2017 World Seniors Championship Explained

Tournament Name:	2017 World Seniors Championship
Venue:	Baths Hall
Location:	Scunthorpe
Country:	England
Organisation:	Snooker Legends
Format:	Seniors event
Total Prize Fund:	£18,500
Winners Share:	£10,000
Highest Break:	Peter Lines (69)
Winner:	Peter Lines
Runner Up:	John Parrott
Score:	4–0
Previous:	2016
Next:	2018

The 2017 World Seniors Championship was a snooker tournament, that took place at the Baths Hall in Scunthorpe, England, from 22 to 24 March 2017. Qualifying for the tournament was open to non-tour players, who were aged 40 and over on 1 January 2017.^[1] The champion received a place in the qualifying tournament for the 2017 World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.

Mark Davis was the champion of the previous event. However he was not eligible for this year's edition, as it was exclusively for non-tour players.^[1] Snooker Legends organised the event for the first time having replaced the WPBSA who previously sanctioned the event. Peter Lines won the tournament without losing a single frame. He beat John Parrott 4–0 in the final.^[2]

Prize fund

The breakdown of the tournament prizes is shown below:^[1]

• Winner: £10,000 and a place in WC qualifying
• Runner-up: £3,000
• Semi-finalist: £1,500
• Quarter-finalist: £500
• Highest break: £500
• Total: £18,500

Field

Seeded players

Players were seeded based on the titles won during their professional careers:^[1]

1. Stephen Hendry – 7 world titles (1990, 1992–96, 1999), 18 triple crown events
2. Cliff Thorburn – 1 world title (1980), 4 triple crown events
3. John Parrott – 1 world title (1991), 2 triple crown events, 9 ranking events
4. Dennis Taylor – 1 world title (1985), 2 triple crown events, 2 ranking events
5. Joe Johnson – 1 world title (1986), 1 triple crown event
6. Patsy Fagan – 1 triple crown event
7. Tony Knowles – 2 ranking events
8. Willie Thorne – 1 ranking event

Steve Davis, Ray Reardon, Terry Griffiths, Tony Meo and Doug Mountjoy were invited to take part, but declined.

Qualifying

Four qualifying events took place during February and March 2017:^[3]

• 17–19 February: The Crucible Sports and Social Club, Newbury, England (Qualifying Event 1)
  • • 23–25 February: The Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds, England (Qualifying Event 2)
    • 3–5 March: Ballroom Nürnberg, Nuremberg, Germany (Qualifying Event 3)
    • 10–12 March – D’Arcy McGees at Spawell, Dublin, Ireland (Qualifying Event 4)

Each qualifier took their place alongside the eight invited players in the main draw of the championship.

Main draw

• All matches were played with a 30-second shot clock with players having two time-outs per match
• ^*Re-spotted black ball replaced final frame deciders

Final

Final: Best of 7 frames. Referee: Michaela Tabb. Baths Hall, Scunthorpe, 24 March 2017.
Peter Lines	4–0	John Parrott (3)
41	Highest break	23
0	Century breaks	0
0	50+ breaks	0

50+ breaks

• 69 Peter Lines
• 55 Aiden Owens

Notes and References

1. Web site: Press Release: The 2017 World Seniors Championships. snookerlegends.co.uk. 22 March 2017.
2. News: Hendry loses as Lines wins World Seniors. BBC Sport.
3. Web site: Snooker Legends / Results 2017. snookerlegends.co.uk. 22 March 2017.