World Seniors Snooker Championship 2024: Quarter-finals draw, order of play and preview

We’re ready for a ‘Fantastic Friday’ in Sheffield as all four quarter-finals in the 2024 World Seniors Snooker Championship will be played.

• For in-depth information on the 2024 World Seniors Snooker Championship, please visit here

Following the opening two days at the Crucible, the starting field of 16 has been halved. We take a look at the action on show across both the afternoon and evening sessions, below.

All matches are the best of five frames with a 30-second shot-clock

Afternoon Session

Starting from 12:00GMT: Jimmy White v Igor Figueiredo

Reigning and defending World Seniors Snooker Champion White breathed a huge sigh of relief yesterday as he escaped from the jaws of defeat in the opening round, recovering from 2-0 down to deny qualifier Andrew Norman 3-2 on the final pink. White is aiming to win this crown for a fifth time; since the event moved here in 2019, he has always at least reached the final.

Pan American Seniors Champion Figueiredo defeated an impressive Tessa Davidson 3-1 in round one. The Brazilian is appearing here for the first time in three years, although it was under different circumstances then, as it was behind closed doors due to Covid.

On that occasion, the Brazilian made it to the semi-finals before his campaign was ended by White.

Following the White v Figueiredo match: Dechawat Poomjaeng v Ken Doherty

Four nations will be represented in the afternoon session, with match two pitching Thailand v the Republic of Ireland.

Doherty is on course to become the first snooker player in history to win world junior, amateur, professional and seniors titles. He had to really battle in his round one tie against Australia’s Tyson Crinis, coming from a frame behind en route to a 3-1 win.

The effervescent Poomjaeng once again lit up the Crucible stage last night on his world seniors main stage debut as he dispatched former winner Darren Morgan, 3-1.

Evening Session

Starting from 19:00GMT: Stuart Watson v Tony Drago

Tony Drago looked in good nick during his opening round tie against Michael Judge; emerging as a 3-1 victor in a match he was the slight underdog with bookmakers to win. The popular Maltese cueist is back here for a second successive year; 12 months ago he got to the last four.

World seniors ranking list number one Stuart Watson was a late call-up to the event, but he has made the most of his opportunity so far as he dismissed Tony Knowles 3-0 in the opening round. On his debut here in 2019, Watson was very close to making the semi-finals.

Following the Watson v Drago match: Barry Pinches v James Wattana

Three-time ranking event winner James Wattana helped break off this year’s tournament on Wednesday afternoon as he survived a comeback from Rodney Goggins before coolly depositing the deciding frame for a 3-2 success. It is the first time in five years that Wattana has appeared in the event; on his debut in 2019 he featured in the last four.

Barry Pinches crafted a brace of half century breaks on his way to a 3-1 win over Joe Johnson in the opening round. The Norwich cueman’s best result in this event is a quarter-final finish three years ago.