Dale, Burden, Kerde and Canavan Into the Semi-Finals

The semi-final line-up at the 2025 JenningsBet World Seniors Snooker Championship is now confirmed following a dramatic Friday at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

Former World Seniors Snooker champion Aaron Canavan and 2023 runner-up Alfie Burden will be joined by tournament debutants Dominic Dale and Hassan Kerde on semi-final Saturday at the sport’s most iconic venue.

The afternoon session began with a mouthwatering tie between recently-retired former professionals Dale and Joe Perry.

‘The Spaceman’ made an unforgettable arrival into the arena, donning a trilby and faux-fur coat for his entrance in a nod to the late Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins, and his performance lived up to expectations as he fired in stunning breaks of 97 and 99 before completing his 4-1 victory with a current tournament high break of 128.

Dale said: “I’ve been practicing hard here and I’ve found some form. I was confident going into the match. I was trying to enjoy it and express myself.”

A seven-frame battle filled with drama followed as Burden and Tony Drago went all the way to a deciding frame.

The Maltese cueist raced into a 3-0 lead in unusual circumstances as he won back-to-back respotted blacks to move one frame away from the last four.

Drago began to show signs of nerves, however, missing opportunities in each of the next two frames and Burden took full advantage by forcing a decider with help from breaks of 53 and 51.

The final frame was filled with tension as both players spurned multiple opportunities but it was Burden who was able to take it on the colours before letting out a roar to the Crucible crowd.

Burden said: “I am very proud of the determination I showed from a really bad position which I put myself in. I made a lot of errors early on but I showed good spirit, dug in and refused to be beaten.”

A contest between two continental seniors champions kicked off the evening session as Australia’s Kerde faced South Africa’s Charl Jonck.

The first four frames of the match were shared between the two players with a break of 70 from Jonck being the highlight. From there, however, the Australian pulled away and a contribution of 85 in the sixth frame was enough to secure a 4-2 success.

Kerde said: “I’m over the moon, I feel like I’m shaking on the inside. I’m the first person to come from Australia and reach the semi-finals of the World Seniors Snooker Championship and hopefully I can do the country proud.”

There was late-night drama at the Crucible as the quarter-finals reached a conclusion with a meeting between qualifiers Canavan and Wayne Townsend.

Canavan, a former winner of the most prestigious title in seniors snooker, started off the stronger and took a 3-1 lead before Townsend hit back with a break of 85 to reduce the deficit.

The man from Jersey was able to hold his nerve, however, and took the next to win 4-2 and set up a semi-final meeting with Dale.

The semi-finals take place on Saturday 10 May from 12:00 BST  live on Channel 5.