Seniors Semis Set in Malta
Just four players remain at the semi-final stage of the WSF Seniors Championship following the conclusion of play on the third day of the event in Malta.
With the group stages having concluded on Thursday, 28 players began the day with their eyes on the prize, including a mix of former professionals and talented amateur players.
In the top half of the draw, former world professional number eight Darren Morgan justified his status as top seed by booking his place in the semi-finals for the loss of just two frames so far at the Dolmen Hotel. in fact those two frames came early in the day today as England’s Stuart Watson battled back from 3-0 down, before Morgan claimed the sixth frame of their encounter to progress a 4-2 winner.
Morgan then saw off local player Arthur Cachia 4-0 to set up a last four match against Mohamed Shehab of the United Arab Emirates, who also conquered Maltese opposition this evening to progress. Having earlier defeated Jersey’s Gary Britton in the morning, Shehab then added the scalp of 50-year-old Simon Zammit with a 4-1 victory to qualify for the final day.
The second semi-final will be contested between former professionals Michael Judge and Igor Figueiredo, but not without a scare for both players today.
Ireland’s Judge was seeded through to the last 16 stage following his strong performances in the groups but had to come through a deciding frame against Steve Mifsud to reach the quarter-finals in his first Friday match. His next opponent Kristjan Helgason of Iceland too put up a stern fight with breaks of 90, 71 and 46, but it was Dublin’s Judge who would prevail a 4-2 winner.
Brazil’s Igor Figueiredo awaits after the popular player overturned a 2-0 deficit against home player Jason Peplow to qualify for the last four. Earlier in the day Figueiredo had recorded a comfortable 4-0 success against Irishman Nigel Power.
The remaining players will resume at 10:00am on Saturday morning, ahead of a best of nine frames final scheduled to take place at 3:00pm local time.
