0 items
Mark Joyce Wins English Seniors Championship
Mark Joyce defeated Craig Butler 4-0 in the final of the 2025 English Seniors Championship at the Landywood Snooker Club.
The 41-year-old former professional secured the title for the first time with an impressive display that saw him pick up eight straight victories across the weekend and also compile two century breaks.
A total of 61 cueists embarked on the Landywood Snooker Club in Walsall for the annual staging of the national championship for players aged over 40-years-old.
The competition began with a group stage on the opening day and Joyce dropped just a single frame as he topped his group with a clean sweep of victories over Danny Southall (2-0), Ian Martin (2-0) and former English Seniors champion Lee Stephens (2-1).
A top break of 101 saw Joyce begin the concluding day in style with a whitewash win against 57-year-old Michael Dickinson.
John Welsh, another former tournament winner, was then overcome by Joyce as the 41-year-old came from 2-1 behind to win 3-2 and reach the quarter-finals.
In the last eight he met fellow former professional Peter Lines in a high-quality contest that featured four half-centuries and once again went to a decider before Joyce was able to hold his nerve with a break of 53 to reach the semi-finals – where he then defeated Craig Steadman 3-1.
His opponent in the title match was Butler, who had downed Garry Miller (3-2), Neal Jones (3-1), Steve Crowley (3-1) and finally Simon Bedford (3-2) in the knockout rounds to set up a meeting with Joyce.
Joyce proved to be simply too strong when it counted, however, as he raced into an early lead with help from a break of 64 before comfortably getting over the line in frame four with a contribution of 78 to earn the English Seniors Championship title for the first time.
