LEGENDS PREPARE FOR BATTLE

The eight players who comprise the field for the upcoming 110sport Legends event have between them won 180 professional titles.

These range from the World Championship all the way down to the one frame Pot Black, with all manner of weird and wonderful events in between, the vast majority no longer still going.

Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty, Cliff Thorburn, Alex Higgins, Jimmy White, Tony Knowles, Nigel Bond and Tony Drago have between them appeared in 286 finals.

Of course, there are two types of player in this event: those who are still playing professionally and those returning to the limelight after a few years under the radar.

Thorburn still plays exhibitions and coaches in his native Canada. You can bet the ‘Grinder’ will be fully prepared for this weekend’s action.

Higgins also plays on the exhibition circuit, usually with White, and will be hoping to do better than in his last competitive outing in the Irish Professional Championship two years when he was beaten 5-0 by Fergal O’Brien.

Knowles plays in the World Championship qualifiers every year and last season won a couple of matches.

The action will be available to view on 110sport.tv next week.

Don’t think this is just an exercise in nostalgia. Although form deteriorates with age, pride of performance does not.

For those who got into snooker through the TV boom of the 1980s, this will be like going back in time.

When Thorburn played Higgins in the 1980 final you could have described the internet to someone and they would have assumed you were either mad or drunk or possibly both. This was in an age in which there were only three British television channels.

Some of the faces may be a little weathered now but the names remain legendary.

Seniors snooker has been talked of for many years but it is now finally here and I’m looking forward to seeing some of the players who built the game as we know it now doing battle once again.