WAYS UK Seniors Championship 2022 | Day Three Report
Only four players remain on course for 2022 WAYS UK Seniors Snooker Championship glory following the completion of the quarter-finals on Thursday at the Bonus Arena in Hull.
The first player through to the last four was Peter Lines who overcame good friend Kuldesh Johal 4-1.
Lines claimed the opener on the pink although qualifier Johal squared up with the second frame. However, breaks of 60 and 69 helped the in-form Lines make it through and keep alive his hopes of being only the second player on the World Seniors Snooker Tour to have won both the world and UK championships.
No player has held both the seniors circuit’s biggest two titles at the same time but reigning world seniors champion David Lilley is just two more wins away from becoming the first.
Lilley has yet to drop a frame so far after he dispatched 1986 world champion Joe Johnson 4-0. Carrying on his impressive scoring form from round one, the 46-year-old constructed breaks of 76 and 74 as he went 2-0 ahead. He then made a 58 in the third – eventually taking the frame on the final black – before rounding off another fine performance with a run of 59 in the fourth.
In the evening session, Jimmy White moved closer to yet another seniors accolade after ending the challenge of qualifier Wayne Cooper.
The three-time world and 2017 UK seniors champion produced breaks of 59 and 56 in the first two frames before securing the third on the final pink to go 3-0 up.
White looked like wrapping up a clean sweep victory when he made a 53 in the fourth, although Cooper showed determination as he countered with a 50 and later got on the board via the pink. This just delayed the outcome, though, as the popular Londoner got across the line in the next frame for a 4-1 win.
The day concluded with the tie of the round as Ken Doherty denied Stephen Hendry 4-1 in a rerun of their world championship final from nearly 25 years ago.
Hendry levelled the match with the aid of a 61 break in frame two, but Doherty – who himself crafted a 61 in frame four – was the stronger player in the latter stages and ended up going through comfortably.
The semi-finals will take place during the afternoon session on Friday with the final in the evening. All four remaining players have already tasted success on the seniors circuit; Lines faces Doherty while White plays Lilley in a repeat of the world seniors final from the Crucible Theatre last spring.
