World Seniors Championship 1991

World Seniors Championship 1991 Matchroom World Seniors Championship 1991
Tournament type:	Invitation tournament
Attendees:	16
Venue:	Trentham Gardens , Stoke-on-Trent , England
Opening:	September 18, 1991
Endgame:	September 22, 1991
Winner:	Cliff Wilson
Finalist:	Eddie Charlton
Highest Break:	110 ( Doug Mountjoy )
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The Matchroom World Seniors Championship 1991 (German: Matchroom Seniors World Championship 1991 ) was a professional snooker invitation tournament as part of the 1991/92 season and the first edition of the Seniors World Championship . The tournament was held from September 18-22, 1991 in the Trentham Gardens in the English city ​​of Stoke-on-Trent . The winner was the Welshman Cliff Wilson , who defeated the Australian Eddie Charlton in the final. Wilson's compatriot Doug Mountjoy played the tournament's highest break with a 110 break.

Prize money

The tournament was sponsored by Matchroom Sport , so despite its first time and relatively insignificant tournament status, there was a total prize pool of £ 48,000 , of which a third went to the winner.

	Prize money
winner	£ 16,000
finalist	£ 8,000
Semi-finalist	£ 4,000
Quarter finalist	£ 2,000
Round of 16	£ 1,000
All in all	£ 48,000

Attendees

In order to take part in the tournament, a player had to be at least 40 years old, with the majority of the participants still playing actively on the professional tour.

The two Northern Irish Dennis Taylor and Alex Higgins were the youngest participants at 42, closely followed by Terry Griffiths and Cliff Thorburn at 43. A total of ten players were under 50 years old, and four others were between 50 and 59 years old. The oldest participants included the Englishman John Spencer , who celebrated his 56th birthday on the day the tournament started, as well as the 57-year-old Cliff Wilson and the one year older Rex Williams . The Australian Eddie Chalton was the second oldest at 61, while Fred Davis , brother of the snooker legend and fifteen-time world champion Joe Davis and even eight-time world champion, was an Englishman by far the oldest participant at 78 .

Surname	Age at the start of the tournament	professional	WRL position
Alex Higgins	42 years	Yes	120
Dennis Taylor	42 years	Yes	9
Terry Griffiths	43 years	Yes	11
Cliff Thorburn	43 years	Yes	36
Mike Massey	44 years	No
Murdo MacLeod	44 years	Yes	72
Silvino Francisco	45 years	Yes	24
John Virgo	45 years	Yes	31
Colin Roscoe	46 years	Yes	44
Doug Mountjoy	49 years	Yes	10
Michael Ferreira	52 years	No
John Spencer	56 years	Yes	85
Cliff Wilson	57 years	Yes	32
Rex Williams	58 years	Yes	48
Eddie Charlton	61 years	Yes	27
Fred Davis	78 years	Yes	131
Average age: ~ 50.3 years

Tournament course

All sixteen participants competed against each other from the round of 16 in the knockout system , with all games being played in the best of 9 frames mode . Overall, in two rounds, the age of the players still participating was above average, only in the quarterfinals the field of participants was younger by two years with the departure of Fred Davis. Only one round later, however, it exceeded the average, which rose to 59 years with the advancement of two of the four oldest players in the final.

	Round of 16 Best of 9 Frames DSA: ~ 50.3 years				Quarterfinals Best of 9 Frames DSA: ~ 48.4 years				Semi-final Best of 9 Frames DSA: ~ 50.8 years				Final Best of 9 Frames DSA: 59 years
	Cliff Wilson	5
	Rex Williams	0
					Cliff Wilson	5
					Doug Mountjoy	4th
	Doug Mountjoy	5
	Mike Massey	2
									Cliff Wilson	5
									Terry Griffiths	3
	Terry Griffiths	5
	Fred Davis	0
					Terry Griffiths	5
					Murdo MacLeod	2
	Murdo MacLeod	5
	John Virgo	4th
													Cliff Wilson	5
													Eddie Charlton	4th
	Eddie Charlton	5
	John Spencer	0
					Eddie Charlton	5
					Silvino Francisco	3
	Silvino Francisco	5
	Alex Higgins	4th
									Eddie Charlton	5
									Dennis Taylor	3
	Dennis Taylor	5
	Michael Ferreira	2
					Dennis Taylor	5
					Colin Roscoe	2
	Colin Roscoe	5
	Cliff Thorburn	3

final

With Cliff Wilson and Eddie Charlton , two of the four oldest players made it to the final. Both had survived the first round by a white wash , then Charlton had won their respective games in the quarterfinals 5: 3 and Wilson 5: 4, so only in the decider . In the semifinals, both players had defeated a significantly younger player 5-3, so they made it to the final.

Charlton won the first frame of the game with an 87 break, before Wilson equalized with a three point lead in the next frame and took the lead in the next frame. Shortly thereafter, Charlton equalized with a break of 63 and took the lead again with a break of 53, before he won the next frame with a break of 55 and thus took a 2: 4 lead. But Wilson won the next two frames, forcing the decider, which the Welshman won 77-8.

Cliff Wilson remained a professional player until the end of the 1993/94 season when he died on May 21, 1994 at the age of 60. His Australian competitor Charlton remained a professional player up to and including the 1995/96 season and died on November 8, 2004 at the age of 75.

Final: Best of 9 Frames Trentham Gardens ,  Stoke-on-Trent , England , September 22, 1991
Cliff Wilson	5 : 4	Eddie Charlton
0: 120 (87); 56:53 ; 74 : 19; 17: 91 (63); 21: 69 (53); 40: 73 (55); 69:55 ; 88 : 17 (51); 77 : 8 (52)
52	Highest break	87
-	Century breaks	-
2	50+ breaks	4th

Century Breaks

During the tournament, three players each played a century break .

• Doug Mountjoy : 110
• Alex Higgins : 108
• Eddie Charlton : 103

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b c d} Ron Florax: 1991 World Seniors Championship. CueTracker.net, accessed April 11, 2019 .  
2. ↑ ^{a b} Chris Turner: Masters / Seniors Snooker (Over 40s). Chris Turner's Snooker Archive, 2008, archived from the original on January 7, 2012 ; accessed on April 11, 2019 .  
3. ↑ ^{a b} Ron Florax: 1991 World Seniors Championship - Finishes. CueTracker.net, accessed April 11, 2019 .  
4. ^ Ron Florax: Rankings - 1991-1992. CueTracker.net, accessed April 10, 2019 .