White and Doherty Downed on Day of Upsets at the Crucible

Two of the pre-tournament favourites fell at the first hurdle on day two of the 2025 JenningsBet World Seniors Snooker Championship as Jimmy White and Ken Doherty lost to Alfie Burden and Charl Jonck in the opening round.

The quarter-final line-up in Sheffield was completed by the close of play on Thursday as Burden and Jonck were joined by Tony Drago, who dramatically defeated Gerard Greene in a deciding frame, and Hassan Kerde – who whitewashed Tony Knowles on his Crucible debut.

A blockbuster afternoon session saw four-times World Seniors Snooker champion White and 1997 world champion Doherty in action in front of a buzzing Yorkshire crowd at snooker’s most iconic venue.

An all-London affair saw ‘The Whirlwind’ taking on Burden in a repeat of the 2023 World Seniors Snooker Championship final and it was the ‘Golden Ticket’ play-off qualifier who made a strong start to move into a 2-0 lead.

White hit back with an 82 break to reduce the deficit but never truly got going in his pursuit of a record-extending fifth title and it was opponent who comfortably got over the line a 4-1 victor with a concluding break of 92.

Post-match Burden reflected: “I first practiced with Jimmy when I was a 15-year-old boy. We’ve had this amazing friendship for many years and I don’t get any pleasure in beating Jimmy but I was focused on winning and I had to blank out who I was playing. I know he wants me to win it now.”

In one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Championship, South African qualifier Jonck overcame former world champion Doherty 4-2 on his Crucible debut.

The opening exchanges were scrappy but Doherty was able to move into a 2-0 lead before Jonck hit back and a break of 64 restored parity at 2-2.

From there, the reigning African Seniors champion visibly grew in confidence and ran out a 4-2 winner with a further contribution of 63 in the penultimate frame.

“That was surreal. It was the lifelong ambition becoming a reality” Jonck said, adding: “The crowd were electric and it was the best feeling ever. Everybody loves an underdog story, don’t they?”

After defeating White in the opening match of the afternoon, Burden will next face Malta’s Drago in the quarter-finals after ‘The Tornado’ came through a dramatic encounter with Greene in the evening session.

The Maltese cueist took the opener with a break of 75 and looked set to double his advantage before Greene managed to get two snooker’s and steal the second with a calm colour clearance.

The next four frames were shared, resulting in the tournament’s first decider, and it was Drago who fired in a break of 68 to reach the last eight.

Drago said: “At one time it looked like I might win easily and have an early night but then I collapsed in nearly every frame. I couldn’t have done this before, missing so many balls and then coming back from 3-2 down to win, so I think in my old age I am doing something right that I didn’t do before!”

The quarter-final line-up was completed by Australia’s Kerde as he impressed on debut to whitewash former world number two Knowles.

The Asia-Pacific Seniors champion will now face Jonck on Friday in a international clash after breaks of 53, 62, 66 and 59 gave Kerde victory in one of the finest performances of the opening round.

“I’m over the moon. I’ve watched the Crucible for the last 20 years and to just come and watch a match would have been awesome. This is everything, I consider myself one of the top amateur players in Australia and this is a world stage so to go all the way would mean everything for my life.” Kerde said following his victory.

The quarter-finals take place tomorrow from 12:00 BST  live on Channel 5 and 5Action.