Craig Steadman beat Jimmy Robertson 4-2 to win the third World Seniors Tour event of the season at The Crucible Club in Reading, securing his second title from the campaign’s first three tournaments and returning to the top of the one-year Race to the Crucible ranking list. WPBSA reported the result on 12 October as Steadman sought a return to the 2027 World Seniors Championship at the Crucible Theatre.
Steadman had also won the opening event of the season, so his Reading success means he has claimed two of the first three titles. WPBSA said the win returned Steadman to pole position in the Race to the Crucible as he seeks a return to the 2027 World Seniors Championship.
Steadman recovered twice on route to the final
A field of 61 players from seven countries competed in Reading, including previous event winners Steadman and Ryan Day, former ranking-event winners Robert Milkins and Robertson, the eventual runner-up.
Steadman started with a whitewash of India’s Anurag Saboo before coming through a deciding frame against John Parkin. His match with Parkin had appeared to be moving comfortably in his favour when Steadman established a 3-0 lead, but Parkin fought back to force a decider.
His route then became more demanding. Steadman beat former professional Gerard Greene 4-2 before facing Neal Jones, another former Crucible qualifier. Jones led 3-1, but Steadman recovered to win in a deciding frame on Sunday morning.
That comeback was followed by a 4-1 victory over Barry Pinches, a result built on breaks of 80, 50 and 54. The win put Steadman into the final against Robertson, who had reached the title match on his World Seniors Snooker debut after beating Rory McLeod.
The sequence gives useful context to the final score. Steadman did not merely progress through a run of straightforward matches: he had to survive two deciding frames, including one after letting a three-frame advantage disappear and another after falling two frames behind.
Steadman regained control after Robertson’s rally
Steadman made the tournament’s highest break, 127, in the opening frame of the final. He followed it with a 63 to establish a 2-0 advantage before Robertson had time to settle into the match.
Robertson responded with breaks of 53 and 67 to level the contest at 2-2. Rather than allowing that recovery to shift the balance of the final, Steadman replied with a break of 74 to move back in front. He then won the sixth frame to complete the 4-2 victory.
The pattern of the final mirrors an important feature of Steadman’s week: he was able to regain control after setbacks. Robertson’s two-frame response erased Steadman’s initial lead, but the champion won the final two frames. Earlier in the tournament, Steadman had also responded to pressure against Parkin and Neal Jones.
For Robertson, the defeat ended his World Seniors Snooker debut in the final after he beat Rory McLeod to reach the title match. Steadman’s achievement is more immediate: he added a second trophy to his opening-event success and reclaimed first place in the one-year Race to the Crucible.
What the result changes in the seniors season
WPBSA said the win returned Steadman to pole position in the Race to the Crucible as he seeks a return to the 2027 World Seniors Championship. Steadman reached the semi-finals at the Crucible earlier this year, according to the WPBSA, and has now made a particularly productive start to the new campaign.
Two titles from three events equate to victories in two-thirds of the tournaments completed so far. That calculation cannot show how large his ranking lead is, because the published report does not provide the points totals, but it explains the scale of Steadman’s early success.
Event four is scheduled for 20 to 22 November at The Crucible Club in Reading.