2018 World Seniors Championship
# 2018 World Seniors Championship

The 2018 World Seniors Championship was a snooker tournament, taking place at the Baths Hall in Scunthorpe, England, from 21 to 24 March 2018. Qualifying for the tournament was open to non-tour players, aged 40 and over on 1 January 2018. In addition to the winner's cheque the champion received a place in the qualifying tournament for the 2018 World Snooker Championship.

Peter Lines won the 2017 edition with a 4–0 victory against John Parrott in the final, but as a tour player he was not eligible for this year's edition. Three of the eight seeded participants withdrew prior to the tournament. The five remaining seeds were defeated in the opening round. The Championship was won by Aaron Canavan, who beat Patrick Wallace 4–3 in the final.

## Prize fund

The breakdown of the tournament prizes is shown below:

* 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:

* Stephen Hendry – 7 world titles (1990, 1992–96, 1999), 18 triple crown titles
* John Parrott – 1 world title (1991), 2 triple crown titles, 9 ranking titles. Replaced by Lee Richardson, sixth in the amateur rankings
* Joe Johnson – 1 world title (1986), 1 triple crown title
* Dennis Taylor – 1 world title (1985), 2 triple crown titles, 2 ranking titles
* Tony Drago – 1 ranking final (1997). Replaced by Simon Dent, fourth in the amateur rankings
* Tony Knowles – 2 ranking titles (1982, 1983)
* Cliff Thorburn – 1 world title (1980), 4 triple crown titles, 2 ranking titles
* Willie Thorne – 1 ranking title (1985). Replaced by Gary Filtness, the highest ranked amateur

### Qualifying

Eight qualifying events for the 2018 World Seniors Championship took place during the World Seniors Tour 2017/2018:

* 13–15 October: Crucible Sports & Social Club, Newbury, England (World Q1)
   * Qualifier: Jonathan Bagley
* 27–29 October: Terry Griffiths Matchroom, Llanelli, Wales (World Q2)
   * Qualifier: Rhydian Richards
* 17–19 November: The Ballroom, Glasgow, Scotland (World Q3)
   * Qualifier: Patrick Wallace
* 1–3 December: Pot Black Lowestoft, Lowestoft, England (World Q4)
   * Qualifier: Barry Pinches
* 15–17 December: Dunstable Snooker Centre, Dunstable, England (World Q5)
   * Qualifier: Aaron Canavan
* 26–28 January: CBSA World Snooker Academy, Beijing, China (World Q6)
   * Qualifier: Cao Kaisheng
* 22–25 February: Northern Snooker Centre, Leeds, England (World Q7)
   * Qualifier: David Lilley. Replaced by the runner-up of the event, Nick Spelman
* 9–11 March: D’Arcy McGees at Spawell, Dublin, Republic of Ireland (World Q8)
   * Qualifier: John Farrell

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

## Main draw

| Last 16 Best of 5* frames | Last 16 Best of 5* frames | Quarter-finals Best of 5* frames | Quarter-finals Best of 5* frames | Semi-finals Best of 5* frames | Semi-finals Best of 5* frames | Final Best of 7* frames | Final Best of 7* frames |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Stephen Hendry (1) | 1 | | | | |
| Jonathan Bagley | 3 | | | | |
| Jonathan Bagley | 3 | Jonathan Bagley | 3 | | |
| | | Gary Filtness | 0 | | |
| Gary Filtness | 3* | Gary Filtness | 0 | | |
| Barry Pinches | 2 | | | | |
| Barry Pinches | 2 | | | Jonathan Bagley | 2 |
| | | | | Patrick Wallace | 3* |
| Simon Dent | 0 | | | Patrick Wallace | 3* |
| Patrick Wallace | 3 | | | | |
| Patrick Wallace | 3 | Patrick Wallace | 3 | | |
| | | Rhydian Richards | 1 | | |
| Joe Johnson (3) | 0 | Rhydian Richards | 1 | | |
| Rhydian Richards | 3 | | | | | | |
| Rhydian Richards | 3 | | | | | Patrick Wallace | 3 |
| | | | | | | Aaron Canavan | 4* |
| Lee Richardson | 2 | | | | | Aaron Canavan | 4* |
| Cao Kaisheng | 3* | | | | | | |
| Cao Kaisheng | 3* | Cao Kaisheng | 3* | | | | |
| | | Nick Spelman | 2 | | | | |
| Cliff Thorburn (7) | 2 | Nick Spelman | 2 | | | | |
| Nick Spelman | 3* | | | | | | |
| Nick Spelman | 3* | | | Cao Kaisheng | 2 | | |
| | | | | Aaron Canavan | 3* |
| Tony Knowles (6) | 1 | | | Aaron Canavan | 3* |
| John Farrell | 3 | | | | |
| John Farrell | 3 | John Farrell | 1 | | |
| | | Aaron Canavan | 3 | | |
| Dennis Taylor (4) | 1 | Aaron Canavan | 3 | | |
| Aaron Canavan | 3 | | | | |

* 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 2018. :

| Patrick Wallace Northern Ireland | 3–4 | Aaron Canavan Jersey |
| - | - | - |
| 96–13, 45–64, 78–39, 77–45, 23–62, 6–82, 0–7 *(respotted black) |||
| 40 | Highest break | 49 |
| 0 | Century breaks | 0 |
| 0 | 50+ breaks | 0 |
