Burden beats Canavan to claim maiden World Seniors crown

Alfie Burden was crowned the winner of the 2025 World Seniors Snooker Championship after an 8-4 victory over Aaron Canavan in the final.

The 48-year-old enjoyed the finest moment of his career, hitting a top break of 109 on his way to the title and a top prize of £15,000.

Runner-up to Jimmy White in 2023, Burden ensured he went the extra step two years on with a dominant performance during the showpiece.

The Londoner was the last player to qualify for the event after coming through last month’s Golden Ticket Play-Offs, but made the most of his opportunity – also beating White and Tony Drago on the way to adding his name to the illustrious roll of honour.

Canavan, who lifted this trophy in 2018, was aiming to become only the second multiple winner of the event after four-time champion White.

After Burden played a loose snooker on the yellow, the Jersey cueist cleared to the pink to draw first blood.

However, it proved a false dawn for Canavan as his opponent controlled the next four frames, with breaks of 74, 48 and 54 opening a 4-1 lead.

The World Seniors number one stopped the rot with 75, but runs of 65, 109 – his first century of the week – and 81 moved Burden to the brink of victory at 7-2 up.

The left-hander has a chance to seal frame, match and championship in the next, but broke down on 32, and Canavan punished with a run of 50 to stay alive.

Canavan had overturned a 5-2 deficit to stun Dominic Dale in the semi-finals, and was threatening another remarkable comeback when he took frame 11 on the colours to reduce his arrears to 7-4.

Nevertheless, a fluked red in the early stages on the next frame paved the way for a break of 76, which was enough to get Burden over the line.

“I’m absolutely delighted. I thought I played well in the final,” he said. “A bit twitchy at the end and needed a big bit of luck to get the opportunity, but then I took it.

“You have enough bad luck in your career, so when the little bit of good fortune comes along, you’ve got to take it with both hands, and I did.

“You’ve got to enjoy this moment. We all know I’m not the best over-45 player in the world; there are players ineligible to play in this event. But you can only beat what’s in front of you, and I beat the best that was on offer.

“It was a strong field, but I felt like I played the best snooker this week and deserved to win the tournament.”

“I wasn’t at the races really today, but that’s mostly because of Alfie’s performance in the early part of the match,” Canavan told Channel 5. “He was absolutely phenomenal, clinical and scored heavy. He put me under a lot of pressure and deserved his win today.

“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed it. Just to mix it up with these guys and proving to myself that I can compete with them, that’s good enough for me.”