Seniors Stars Head To Goffs For Mr Vegas World Seniors Snooker 900

The iconic Goffs in Co. Kildare will play host to legends including Stephen Hendry, Jimmy White, Ken Doherty and Dennis Taylor tomorrow in the Mr Vegas World Seniors Snooker 900 live on Channel 5.

The event is the second instalment of this new and exciting format where anything can happen. Each match will last 15 minutes (900 seconds) and has a 20-second shot clock in play at all times, allowing for unmissable action that has proven a hit with fans and players alike.

How It Works

All matches throughout the tournament are just a single frame and each of these frames has a time limit of just 15 minutes. Should the frame not be complete at the end of the allocated 15 minutes, whoever is leading the frame claims the win. 

Played with a spotted cueball, cueists have just 20 seconds per shot and there are no extensions or time-outs (unless at the discretion of the referee). 

For every shot played, either a ball must be potted, or a cushion must be struck with the cueball or an object ball. 

All fouls result in cueball in hand for the opponent. 

At the end of the 15 minutes, should the players be tied on points, a blue-ball shoot-out will be used to determine the winner. 

The six players will compete in two round-robin groups of three players, with the top two advancing to the semi-finals. The winner of Group A will face the runner-up in Group B, and the winner of Group B will face the runner-up in Group A in the last four.

Group A

Stephen Hendry, champion of the inaugural Mr Vegas World Seniors Snooker 900 in Epsom in December, headlines Group A alongside local favourites Dennis Taylor and Fergal O’Brien.

Hendry, who won the Irish Masters at the iconic Goffs venue on three occasions, kicks off the event on Saturday against veteran Irish professional and former ranking event winner O’Brien.

1985 world champion Taylor completes the group line-up with the top two players in the final standings qualifying for the semi-finals.

Group B

Jimmy White, a back-to-back Irish Masters champion at Goffs in 1985 and 1986, is joined in Group B by 1997 world champion Ken Doherty and former world number two Tony Knowles – who replaces the initially announced Tony Drago in the draw.

Four-time World Seniors champion White will kick off the Group B action in Saturday’s second match, taking on Knowles, before Doherty faces the two legends of the game on home soil as they compete for two semi-final places.

Schedule

The action gets underway at 12 o’clock on Saturday, broadcast live on Channel 5, with the champion expected to be crowned at around 5pm.

• Group Stages (Single-Frame Shootout)
  • Stephen Hendry v Fergal O’Brien
  • Jimmy White v Tony Knowles
  • Dennis Taylor v Winner of Match 1
  • Ken Doherty v Winner of Match 2
  • Dennis Taylor v Loser of Match 1
  • Ken Doherty v Loser of Match 2
• Semi Finals (Single-Frame Shootout)
  • Winner of Group A v Runner-Up of Group B
  • Winner of Group B v Runner-Up of Group A
• Final (Best of 3 Frames)
  • Winner of Semi-Final 1 v Winner of Semi-Final 2