2025 World Seniors Snooker Championship: Full draw, results, format, match schedule, how to watch

Hot off the heels of Zhao’s Xintong’s historic triumph in the professional version on Monday night, a cosmopolitan field of 16 players are set to take to the baize for the premier event on the World Seniors Snooker Tour.

Last year, Brazil’s Igor Figueiredo won the prestigious title for the first time after defeating Ken Doherty 5-2 in the final.

Who is playing in the 2025 World Seniors Snooker Championship and how did the draw work? Round one preview

Over the past season, players from across the globe have been trying to qualify via various routes for the main draw and join the invited players.

Eight cueists were seeded with their names fixed into the bracket. These were: Figueiredo, Aaron Canavan, Dominic Dale, Joe Perry, Jimmy White, Tony Drago, Tony Knowles and Doherty.

The other eight players were then randomly drawn against the seeds for round one.

Figueiredo will begin his title defence against England’s Wayne Townsend, who qualified via the seniors tour’s one-year list and is preparing for his debut on snooker’s grandest stage.

Four-time World Seniors Snooker Champion Jimmy White - three of those title triumphs came at the Crucible in 2019, 2020 and 2023 - will face the winner of the Golden Ticket event and fellow Londoner Alfie Burden in a repeat of the final from two years ago.

No player other than White has won this title more than once.

Ken Doherty has reached this final twice before, but is still aiming to create snooker history by becoming the first player to have won world junior, amateur, professional, and seniors championships.

The Irishman plays South Africa’s Charl Jonck, the reigning African Seniors Snooker Champion.

Multiple-time world ranking event winners Joe Perry and Dominic Dale both recently retired from the professional circuit, but neither player is hanging up their cue just yet, as they have both accepted invites to this year’s seniors extravaganza.

Both will be making their seniors debuts and would play each other in the quarter-finals if they get past Brazil's Fabio Luersen (Pan American Seniors Champion) and England's Craig Steadman (European Seniors Champion) respectively in round one.

In all-qualifier tie, winner of this title in 2018 Jersey's Canavan meets Andrew Norman - who nearly eliminated White in round one last year - while former world number two Tony Knowles shares the baize with Australia's Hassan Kerde, the current Asia-Pacific Seniors Champion.

Malta's quick cueman Tony Drago has impressed on his last two visits to the Championship reaching the semi-finals on both occasions. The former top 16 star is back and has been drawn against former World Games gold medallist and qualifier Gerard Greene.

What is the format, what are the match lengths?

Only one table will be in operation throughout the tournament. The event is straight knockout.

• First round and quarter-finals: Best of 7 frames
• Semi-finals: Best of 11 frames
• Final: Best of 15 frames

Who are the referees at the 2025 World Seniors Snooker Championship?

A team of four will referee at the Crucible for the televised event:

• Michaela Tabb
• Proletina Velichkova
• Mark Beale
• Rod Eaton

Velichkova - from Bulgaria - is set to officiate the final.

How can I watch the 2025 World Seniors Snooker Championship?

Channel 5 in the United Kingdom will provide live coverage throughout the five-day tournament.

Afternoon sessions will be broadcast on the Channel 5 main channel, and 5 Action will screen the evening sessions.

Channel 5’s online streaming service “5” will also show the matches.