The entry Criteria should be

changed for the world seniors so that only people who are no longer playing on the main tour can enter? didn't Williams enter the year after he won the WC on the main tour? bit of a sausage move that in a way, of course because of the rules he was within his rights to enter but only because you can do something it doesn't mean you should.

I just don't feel it was really in the spirit of things as a seniors competition is meant for people who no longer play regularly, it's no coincidence that in recent years the finals have generally been between people who are still playing regularly.

What chance did the rest of the field have that year that Williams showed up?

You have to be over 40 and outside the top 64 now I believe. Williams was neither! Think that’s why they changed it.

I don't think their status as a professional should have anything to do with it. For the majority of +age competitions, it should simply be based on age.
The actual limit should be based on the age that it is clear that age is a factor in someone's performance. In the current climate, 50+ (or maybe 47/48+) would probably be a good cut-off point. Those in the 40-45 bracket are certainly still capable of competing at their peak level of prowess.

Yep Williams won the seniors in 2015, he either just turned 40 or was just short of his 40th birthday.

chengdufan wrote:I don't think their status as a professional should have anything to do with it. For the majority of +age competitions, it should simply be based on age.
The actual limit should be based on the age that it is clear that age is a factor in someone's performance. In the current climate, 50+ (or maybe 47/48+) would probably be a good cut-off point. Those in the 40-45 bracket are certainly still capable of competing at their peak level of prowess.

I agree with that, but one of the objectives of a 'senior tour' is to provide games for former top players who can't do it anymore, but who sentimental fans still like to watch. It's like a gentle path to retirement. It's probably not possible to have a set of criteria that acheives everything, so these tournaments can't be taken too seriously, and the prizemoney differential shouldn't be too great.

SnookerEd25 wrote:Williams won the seniors a couple of years before coming back & winning the big one. His form was in the toilet pretty much at the time of his seniors win.

Fair enough but poor form playing on the main tour would still have made him far too good for the rest of the field in a seniors tour just for the fact that he was playing day in day out whereas the rest of the field most probably wouldn't have picked up a cue until a week or two before the tournament.