Jimmy White

Jimmy White
birthday	2nd May 1962 (age 58)
place of birth	London
nationality	England
Nickname (s)	The Whirlwind
professional	since 1980
Prize money	£ 4,796,654 (as of August 27, 2020)
Highest break	147 ( WM 1992 )
Century Breaks	319 (as of August 27, 2020)
Main tour successes
World championships	-
Ranking tournament victories	10
Minor tournament victories	-
World rankings
Highest WRL place	2 ( 87/88 - 88/89 )
Current WRL location	111 (as of August 17, 2020)

James Warren "Jimmy" White , MBE (born May 2, 1962 in London ) is an English snooker player . He is one of the most popular representatives of this sport.

Career

White started snooker at the age of nine. Together with Tony Meo , he is said to have skipped school in order to be able to practice. It is even said that when he was a teenager, the headmaster of his school allowed him to skip classes in the afternoon as long as he visited him at least in the morning.

At first he was supported by a taxi driver and also driven to local prize money tournaments. Jimmy White first caught on when he won the National Under 16 Championship . In this age group he was considered the best snooker player of all time. At 16 years and 11 months he won the English Amateur Championships and thus qualified for the IBSF Amateur World Championship , where he is the youngest winner to this day (as of February 2015) (he was 18 years and 191 days old at the time).

In 1980 he switched to the professional camp. In his first year he qualified for the world championship at the Crucible Theater in Sheffield. However, he lost to eventual world champion Steve Davis in round 1 .

In 1981 he won the Northern Ireland Classic . In the spring of 1982 he made it to the semi-finals of the World Cup, which he lost to Alex Higgins after a 15:14 lead and a supposedly secure lead in the 30th frame after a legendary break from Higgins with 15:16. The encounter is one of the best ever played at a world championship. After a year and a half as a professional, White took 10th place in the world rankings.

White with co-commentator Neal Foulds in an interview with Shaun Murphy at the German Masters 2015

In 1984 he reached the final of the World Cup for the first time, which he lost to Steve Davis at 16:18. Two years later, he won his first world ranking tournament, the Mercantile Credit Classic . In 1987 he was number 2 in the world, the best position in his career.

From 1990 to 1994 he reached the final of the World Cup five times in a row, but he never won it. In part he lost the games in a dramatic way that is so typical for him: in 1992 he led against Stephen Hendry with 14: 8 and was still defeated with 14:18, in 1994 he missed (again against Hendry) at 17:17 a " simple “black ball from the spot - Hendry cleared away and White had once again missed the world title.

In 2005, Jimmy White announced that he would also play pool with Ronnie O'Sullivan on the International Pool Tour .

White was together with Neal Foulds live commentator for Eurosport- UK at the German Masters 2015 in the Berlin Tempodrom .

His first round defeat against Jack Lisowski during qualifying for the 2017 World Cup led to the loss of his eligibility to play on the Main Tour after 37 years of service. Due to the World Cup anniversaries taking place this year, 90 years since the first edition in 1927 and 40 years of the Crucible Theater, Barry Hearn , Chairman of the World Snooker Association, WPBSA , gave him and Ken Doherty “invitation cards” for the first time for two more seasons until 2019., the on May 3, 2019 for him was extended for two more years.

successes

→ Main article : Jimmy White / Achievements

Jimmy White at the Snooker German Masters 2013

White reached numerous finals during his career, including the finals of triple crown tournaments listed below . All other finals can be found under the link above.

output	year	competition	finalist	Frames
winner	1984	Masters	Terry Griffiths	9: 5
finalist	1984	World Snooker Championship	Steve Davis	16:18
finalist	1986	Masters	Cliff Thorburn	5: 9
finalist	1987	UK Championship	Steve Davis	14:16
finalist	1990	World Snooker Championship	Stephen Hendry	12:18
finalist	1991	World Snooker Championship	John Parrott	11:18
finalist	1991	UK Championship	John Parrott	13:16
finalist	1992	World Snooker Championship	Stephen Hendry	14:18
winner	1992	UK Championship	John Parrott	16: 9
finalist	1993	World Snooker Championship	Stephen Hendry	5:18
finalist	1994	World Snooker Championship	Stephen Hendry	17:18

various

His nickname "Whirlwind of London Town" refers to his fast-paced game. The "whirlwind" is one of the most popular snooker players. In addition to his playing style, he is also known for his exceptional fairness. Because of his six partially dramatic defeats in World Cup finals, he has the reputation of being the best snooker player who has never become world champion.

White is the holder of the MBE . Jimmy White lost a World Cup final to three of the five other snooker players who received the same honor: John Parrott , Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry (the other two players are Mark Williams and John Higgins ).

In the published in 1990 kung fu - and billiards film Legend of the Dragon by Stephen Chow had White a cameo as himself.

In 2004 he was arrested for possession of drugs ( cocaine ), but got away with a police warning.

From November 15 to December 4, 2009 he took part in the British television show I'm a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here! part and came third.

Jimmy White is married with five children.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Profile of Jimmy White on CueTracker (as of August 9, 2018)
2. ↑ Jimmy White and Ken Doherty given tour cards by World Snooker. BBC-online April 14, 2017, archived from the original April 15, 2017 ; accessed on April 15, 2017 (English).  
3. ↑ Main Tour Qualification 2019/20 - Update to World Snooker accessed on May 5, 2019
4. ↑ Jimmy White third in I'm a celebrity

Web links

Commons : Jimmy White  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Player profile at World Snooker (English)

literature

• Jimmy White, Rosemary Kingsland: Behind the White Ball: My Autobiography . Ed .: Hutchinson. London 1998, ISBN 0-09-180126-5 . (English)
• Aubrey Malone: Whirlwind: The Incredible Story of Jimmy White . Ed .: Know the Score Books. 2009, ISBN 1-84818-742-4 . (English)