Comeback king Canavan downs Dale to reach World Seniors final
Dale and Canavan played out a thriller at The Crucible
Aaron Canavan produced an astonishing turnaround to edge out Dominic Dale and book his place in the World Seniors Snooker Championship final.
The 2018 champion’s quest for a second title looked like it would end at the semi-final stage, as he trailed 5-2 against the two-time ranking event winner.
Dale, recently retired from the professional game, hit back-to-back centuries to put himself on the brink of setting up a final showdown with Alfie Burden, who beat Hassen Kerde 6-2 earlier on Saturday.
However, Canavan dug deep to win the last four frames, taking a nervy decider on the blue to snatch a dramatic victory.
The first four frames were shared, before Dale took control with breaks of 109 and 131 – taking his century tally for the tournament to four – on the way to a 5-2 advantage.
Canavan was clearly feeling the effects of his late-night finish against Wayne Townsend in Friday’s quarter-finals.
Nevertheless, the Jersey cueist stopped the rot by controlling the eighth frame, before a run of 65 reduced the deficit to 5-4.
He then doubled a long pink to get over the line in frame 10 and force a tense decider, in which he cleared from yellow to blue to move within a victory of a second World Seniors crown.
“[Dominic has] been the best player of the tournament by far, and how I’ve won that – I don’t know,” he told Channel 5.
“Although he’s retired, Dominic was still in the top 50 in the world. Remember, I’m a club player from Jersey, I am living the dream!
“I was asleep for half of that match. When Dominic was making the breaks, I was so tired from last night. I didn’t get a great night’s sleep.
“I actually went into the dressing room and smacked myself as hard as I could in the face just to wake myself up!
“I’m going to really enjoy [the final].”
“I’m delighted to have played so well, make the centuries I have and shown some of my A-game is still there,” Dale added.
“It’s just a privilege to play at The Crucible again and suffer the way I did; it’s all part of the game.”
There he will play Burden, who looks to go the extra step after he was a beaten finalist against Jimmy White two years ago.
The Londoner averted that defeat by White in the opening round, before producing a stunning comeback against Tony Drago in the quarter-finals.
He built on that momentum by taking two scrappy frames, before a run of 57 and 65 counter clearance from 42-2 down put him 4-0 to the good against Kerde.
The Australian stopped the rot by controlling the next two frames to halve his deficit. However, Burden responded with 97 to move to the brink of victory, which he secured on the black in the following frame.
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World Seniors Snooker Championship 2025 Results
Saturday May 10
Semi-Finals
Alfie Burden 6-2 Hassan Kerde
Aaron Canavan 6-5 Dominic Dale