Masters / Seniors Snooker (Over 40s)         Brief History of Seniors Snooker   The first ever World Championship for senior players was held in 1991. Sixteen over 40s gathered at Trentham Gardens in Stoke-on-Trent most of whom were still actively playing on the main circuit and indeed it was two of the three highest ranked players who fought out the final with Cliff Wilson edging Eddie Charlton 5-4.   That event was never repeated but in 2000 there was a serious attempt to establish a Senior’s Tour. One event was held, the World Seniors Masters at the RAC Club in London but plans for a World Championship ended when neither sponsorship nor television coverage could be secured.   In the non-professional game a European Seniors event began running in conjunction with the Men’s European Championship in 2000 and in 2004 the IBSF added a seniors’ event at their world championship, the first two of which was won by New Zealand’s former world number 18, Dene O’Kane. In 2006 the event was re-named the IBSF Masters World Championship and the EBSA followed suit. A European Masters Team Championship began in 2004. The IBSF held their first World Team Championship for Seniors in 2006 but to date it has not been repeated. World Professional Seniors Championship Year Venue Winner Runner Up Score 1st Prize 1991 Trentham Gardens, Stoke-on-Trent Cliff Wilson Eddie Charlton 5-4 £16,000 back to top World Seniors Masters Year Venue Winner Runner Up Score 1st Prize 2000 RAC Club, London Willie Thorne Cliff Thorburn 84-8* £10,000 * Single Frame Event back to top IBSF World Masters Championship Year Venue Winner Runner Up Score 2004 Velthoven, Holland Dene O'Kane NZL Eugene Hughes IRL 5-2 2005 Manama, Bahrain Dene O'Kane NZLa Joe Delaney IRL 5-4 2006 Amman, Jordan Mohammed Yousuf PAK Glen Wilkinson AUS 5-4 2007 Korat, Thailand Darren Morgan WAL Kamchai Wongjan THA 5-1 2008 Wels, Austria Dene O'Kane NZL Geet Sethi IND 5-1 2009 Hyderabad, India Darren Morgan WAL Dene O'Kane NZL 6-0 Back to top IBSF World Masters Team Championship Year Venue Winner Runner Up Score 2006 San Jose, California, USA England India 'A' 5-2 back to top EBSA European Masters Championship Year Venue Winner Runner Up Score 2000 Stirling, Scotland Joe Delaney IRL John Caven SCO 5-2 2001 Riga, Latvia Eugene Hughes IRL Joe Delaney IRL 6-3 2002 Kalisz, Poland Ron Jones WAL Eugene Hughes IRL 6-1 2003 Bad Wildungen, Germany Ron Jones WAL Joe Delaney IRL 6-4 2004 Volkermarkt, Austria Alan Trigg ENG Ron Jones WAL 6-4 2005 Ostrow Wielkopolski, Poland Michael Maguire SCO Eugene Hughes IRL 6-2 2006 Constanta, Romania Jyri Virtanen FIN Kimmo Lang FIN 6-4 2007 Carlow, Ireland Darren Morgan WAL Kieran McMahon NIR 6-2 2008 Lublin, Poland Alan Trigg ENG Kieran McMahon NIR 6-4 2009 Duffel, Belgium Darren Morgan WAL Joe Delaney IRL 6-3 back to top EBSA European Masters Team Championship Year Venue Winner Runner Up Score 2004 Riga, Latvia Ireland Scotland 7-5 2005 Qawra, Poland England Scotland 7-1 2006 Carlow, Ireland England Finland 8-1 2007 Gent, Belgium Wales Malta 7-3 2008 Glasgow, Scotland Wales Ireland 8-0 2009 St. Petersburg, Russia Wales Ireland 7-2 back to top © Chris Turner 2008