Jimmy White

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This article is about the snooker player. For the bandit, see Great train robbery (1963).
Jimmy White
Born May 2, 1962 (age 44)
Nationality Flag of England English
Nickname(s) The Whirlwind
The People's Champion
Professional 1980–current
Highest ranking 2 (2 years)
2006/07 ranking 35
Career prize money £4,594,790[1]
Highest break 147 (1992)
Tournament wins
Ranking events 10
Non-ranking events 21
World Champion runner-up (6 times)

James "Jimmy" Warren White, MBE (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player often considered one of the most popular players in the sport, past or present.[attribution needed] He first played snooker at a very young age and a natural aptitude led to a successful amateur career culminating in his victory in the world amateur snooker championship in Australia in 1980 at the age of 18. Turning professional soon afterwards, his crowd-pleasing style and ability made an immediate impact at this level. A veteran professional with a career spanning 26 years, White is a left-hander, and is nicknamed the "Whirlwind" and occasionally as the "People's Champion".

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With a host of major titles and achievements, including ten ranking tournaments, White's overall record is on a par with many of the most successful players the sport has seen. Only the World Championship, which he first entered in 1981, has eluded him, although he has been runner-up on six occasions (1984, 1990-1994). Nonetheless, his consistency and dominating style of play have been on the wane for some years and with his first-round defeat in the 2006 World Championship White dropped out of the world's top-32 player rankings. White said in 2006 that he would go off and play golf in Spain if he thought he had no chance of regaining his former glory. "I guarantee you I will be in the top 16 for next year. I am far too good", he commented.[2] White's slide down the rankings has seen him drop to no. 59 (as of late January 2007). However, his qualification for the China Open means that he his likely to remain in the top 64 and guarantee his place on the 2007-2008 professional tour. He lost his first qualifying match for the 2007 World Championship to Jamie Burnett in March 2007 and, as a result, will not be appearing in the televised stages for only the second time since 1981.

The World Championship has provided the theatre for White's greatest disappointments. In 1982, he led Alex Higgins 15-14 in their nip-and-tuck semi-final, was up 59-0 in the penultimate frame and a red and colour away from the final. However, he eventually succumbed to Higgins' fightback. In the 1984 final he trailed Steve Davis 12-4 at the end of the first day's play, made a determined comeback, yet eventually lost by a margin of only 18-16.

In 1992, he led Stephen Hendry 12-6 and then 14-8. After Hendry pulled back to 14-9, White needed to pot only one red to win both the 24th and 25th frames, obstacles he could not overcome. After the deficit was reduced further to 12-14, White unfortunately went in-off when compiling a potentially frame-winning break. Hendry moved 15-14 ahead without conceding a further point and, after a tricky blue from White stopped barely short of the pocket, led 16-14. Two century breaks completed Hendry's ten-frame winning streak and a remarkable 18-14 victory. White's defeat may be attributed to a combination of his own inability to secure crucial frames from winning positions, to an opponent who played his best snooker as White faltered, and, less importantly, to one or two instances of bad luck.

Arguably his best chance came in the 1994 final, the third consecutive, and his fourth overall, contest against Hendry. White trailed 1-5 early on but recovered well to lead 10-9. Hendry again surged clear 15-13 and 17-16 but a courageous break of 75 from White took the match to a decider. In the final frame, White was on a break of 29 and leading the frame by 37 points to 24. He then missed an easy black off its spot, after which commentator Dennis Taylor observed: "Dear me, that was just a little bit of tension". Had White potted the black, he would have been required to pot only three more reds (with blacks) to leave Hendry needing penalty points. As it happened, Hendry cleared with a technically straightforward break of 58 to win the title. Gracious in defeat, White joked that the Hendry was "beginning to annoy" him in the post-match interview.

White became the first player to beat Hendry twice at the World Championship, when he added a 1998 first-round win (10-4 after leading 7-0 and 8-1) to his 13-12 second-round success over Hendry ten years earlier. The feat has since been matched by Matthew Stevens.

White is one of only five players to have completed a maximum 147 break at the World Championships (1992). He has also compiled 253 competitive centuries during his career.

Rather than being deficient in any technical aspect of the game, for instance he is very proficient in using the rest, it is arguable that occasional moments of inconsistency or lack of concentration, particularly at critical moments, have cost White dearly. But for these, the record books could have been very different. This image of "nearly man" has fuelled the affection in which he is held, particularly when compared to Davis in the 1980s and Hendry in the 1990s, both of whom have consistently played excellent snooker but have not been quite as popular. Regardless, his comeback in the 2003-04 season also highlighted how tough a player White can be when he adopts a more disciplined approach and reins in his array of shots.

Despite being best known for snooker, he is also a pool player. Along with Steve Davis and Alex Higgins, White was a member of Europe's victorious Mosconi Cup team of 1995, and won the deciding match against Lou Butera.

White's personal life and health have both come under public scrutiny. He has suffered from testicular cancer, later making a full recovery, and had an unsuccessful hair transplant (he now wears a toupee). He has also had minor trouble with the law over alcohol and drugs.

Even so, his contribution to snooker has been substantial and he was awarded an MBE in 1999. Ironically, three of the five other snooker players to have been awarded the MBE (Davis, Hendry and John Parrott) are the trio that has beaten him in the world finals.[citation needed]

White is a very keen poker player, and won the second Poker Million tournament, which also included Steve Davis at the final table.[3] He is also good friends with professional poker player Dave "The Devilfish" Ulliott.

White was formerly married to Maureen White, and they have five children. He currently lives in Epsom and supports Chelsea F.C.

  • In February 2005, after hearing of a sponsorship deal from HP Foods, makers of brown sauce, whereby the HP logo will be present on the brown ball at all major tournaments, White announced he had changed his name by deed poll to 'James Brown', and would wear brown clothing with a blue bow tie when competing at the upcoming Masters tournament.[4] World Snooker subsequently announced that as he had registered for the tournament as Jimmy White, he would be referred to by that name during it, and the press has continued to call him Jimmy White after the tournament.
  • Many snooker computer and video games have been released using the Jimmy White name on the Atari ST, Amiga, Genesis, Mega Drive, Game Boy Color, Playstation, Playstation 2, Dreamcast, Xbox and PC platforms.
  • On the popular BBC game show Big Break, White was the first player to clear the table with 3 reds still remaining in the final part of the challenge (thus winning the top prize for the contestant he was playing for).

(See snooker tournament rolls of honour.)

  • White, Jimmy; and Rosemary Kingsland (1998). Behind the White Ball: My Autobiography. London: Hutchinson. ISBN 0-09-180126-5. 
  1. ^ World Snooker profile
  2. ^ BBC interview, 20 July 2006
  3. ^ "The History of Poker Million", at official site of event sponsor Ladbrokes Poker; accessed February 15, 2007.
  4. ^ "Jimmy Gets Saucy with Name Change", no by-line, BBC News (online edition), "Sport: Fun and Games" section, 8 February 2005; accessed 14 March 2007


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