World Seniors Championship - The golden boys at work

Darren Morgan - in the race for defending his crown

Yesterday saw the start of a very dear event to my heart and a dear one to many of you, I'm sure: the World Seniors Championship. 

For many it's been the perfect occasion to revive the moments when the golden boys ruled the green baize, while for others it was a time to acknowledge their value and talent and see how big and powerful their influence on snooker's development over the years has been.

And although the format seems more like a joke, with the matches being played under "the best of three" rule, with a shot-clock in action and with SkySports' eternal typing mistakes of writing "Premier League" on the screen, the fascination was still there and captured the minds of many snooker fans.

Darren Morgan and Joe Johnson before their cue-crossing

The first two to break the ice were Darren Morgan (as defending champion) and the one and only Joe Johnson (the 1986 world champion, who's retired from snooker and can now be heard commentating many snooker tournaments on British EuroSport).

As the year before, Darren proved to be one hell of a competitor and had no mercy on poor Joe (who openly and cheerfully declared he "practiced last year") and with a break of 75 took the first frame under his belt.

The next frame proved to be the last one, as the same Darren Morgan was hitting a 45 break and leaving his opponent in need of no less than eight snookers by the end of it. The shake-hand ritual came almost immediately, as the scoreline froze at 2-0.

Dennis met with the "007 Agent" of snooker, Nigel Bond

The same scoreline was registered by Nigel Bond, although far from being at his best, against the 1985 world champion Dennis Taylor, but also by Dene O'Kane after playing Barry West.

Seen only by the privileged ones on the Red Button, the next match was given between "The Nugget" Steve Davis and “The Grinder" Cliff Thorburn, and was the first snooker encounter of the day that ended on a different scoreline, other than 2-0.

Cliff took the opener on the black, finishing at 62-54, but the next two frames were easily cashed by the still-acting-on-the-Main-Tour-player, Davis earning his spot in the quarter-finals after a 2-1 victory.

Tony Chappel defeated his namesake, Tony Drago

The second session of the day kicked off with the "Tonys" battle given between Tony Drago and Tony Chappel, the last named one overcoming a very nervous and out-of-form Drago with a 2-1 scoreline.

Successfully defeating throat cancer, Tony Knowles retuned to the green baize to amaze us all and get his feet wet once more. His opponent and also one of his biggest admires, Karl Townsend took a very good start, a consistent break of 86 heading him the first frame, but Tony was sure not only to make a comeback, but also to win the match at 2-1.

W. Thorne and A. Goldstein, sharing thoughts ab the event

The last two matches of the day both ended on a 2-0 scoreline Alan Robidoux beating Less Dodd, while "The Whirlwind" Jimmy White making sure he exits Mike Hallet from the competition in order to reach the quarter-final stages.

World Seniors Championship conclusion can be seen today on SkySports 3, as it follows:

1pm
Quarter-final:

Steve Davis v Darren Morgan
Dene O'Kane v Jimmy White
Alain Robidoux v Tony Chappel
Tony Knowles v Nigel Bond

7pm

Semi-finals
 
Final