Brilliant Brazilian Igor Wins Mr Vegas World Seniors Snooker 900 Title in Hull
Igor Figueiredo dramatically defeated Jimmy White on the final black to win his first Mr Vegas World Seniors Snooker 900 title at the Connexin Live in Hull.
The success saw the Brazilian secure back-to-back televised titles on the World Seniors Snooker tour as he followed up on his victory in the World Seniors Championship at the iconic Crucible Theatre back in May.
The unique event, which sees the competitors face off in single-frame shootouts of no more than 15 minutes (or 900 seconds) and was shown live on Channel 5, began with a repeat of the Crucible final from earlier this year as 900 format debutant Figueiredo took on Ken Doherty.
The man known as ‘The Darling of Dublin’ had arrived in England at around 5am that morning, following time as a player and pundit at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters in Riyadh, but showed no signs of fatigue as a break of 67 saw him gain revenge on his Brazilian opponent.
Doherty would follow this up with a further group stage victory over Barry Pinches, another debutant to the format, to secure his place in the semi-finals.
Malta’s Tony Drago was the first man to join him in the knockout stages as he secured a duo of impressive victories over four-time World Seniors champion Jimmy White and seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry.
Back-to-back victories for both Doherty and Drago meant that the final two group stage encounters were effectively knockout matches, with the two winners securing their places in the last four.
Breaks of 49 and 46 were enough for Figueiredo to overcome Pinches in the first of these contests, before White and Hendry renewed their famous rivalry in front of the Hull crowd – with a break of 66 from ‘The Whirlwind’ earning him the last semi-final spot.
The action continued to come thick and fast in East Yorkshire as the event entered the knockout stages and it was the two group runner-ups who set up a final meeting as White overcame Doherty in a repeat of the 2020 World Seniors Championship final, before Figueiredo continued his fine form by defeating Drago.
The title match saw the two most recent winners of the World Seniors Championship go head to head in a best-of-three frame contest.
White compiled the highest break of the day to take the opener with a 69 but, fittingly, the event would ultimately be decided by a final frame shootout as Figueiredo hit back with a 66 to restore parity.
‘The Whirlwind’, who has been defeated in the previous two Mr Vegas World Seniors Snooker 900 finals, look set to finally get his hands on the trophy as he was in the balls in the final frame on a break of 40.
Dramatically, however, White broke down allowing the Brazilian to clear up and seal the victory on the final black before letting out an ecstatic roar in celebration.
Post-match, Figueiredo said: “It’s a fantastic time for me, my career and for the Americas as well. I think it was a fantastic final, I feel over the moon with that clearance – I don’t believe it! I enjoy playing in the World Seniors events and I want to fix my place here and come back for every tournament.”
