Brown Becomes Two-Time English Seniors Champion

Wayne Brown defeated Craig Steadman 4-3 at the Landywood Snooker Club to win the English Seniors Championship title for the second time.

• Results

The 56-year-old, who last won the title in 2019, won through a field of 49 players to become only the second player after six-time champion Jonathan Bagley to win the event on more than one occasion.

Brown made a strong start to the weekend by earning a trio of whitewash wins over Danny Connolly, Steve Crowley and Philip Blackburn to advance to Sunday’s knockout stages with a top break of 122 to his name.

His dominance continued and it wasn’t until the semi-finals that Brown would finally drop a frame after kicking off the final day with 3-0 defeats of Andrew Diacopoulos and fellow former English Seniors champion John Welsh.

Neal Jones, who had recently secured a Crucible debut for the upcoming World Seniors Snooker Championship, was Brown’s semi-final opponent and the 49-year-old moved one frame away from victory at 3-1 with breaks of 63 and 62.

In a high-quality affair that saw a total of eight breaks over 40, Brown battled back with contributions of 61 and 43 to force a decider before earning his place in the final by taking the seventh frame.

Steadman, who will return to the World Snooker Tour (WST) next season after success on the WPBSA Q Tour, was the title match opponent after he had last beaten James Brown 4-2 in the semi-finals.

It was Brown who took the opener before Steadman restored parity with a break of 112. This would set the tone for the best-of-seven frame final, as neither player ever led by more than a single frame as the contest went all the way.

A decisive break of 69 in frame seven saw Brown get over the line and regain the English Seniors Championship seven years after last lifting the title.