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Every so often the time comes to bid a fond farewell to a sporting hero, and January’s Masters snooker tournament may prove to be just such an occasion for legend of the green baize, Jimmy White. The Whirlwind has been granted a controversial wildcard for the event that runs from January 10 to 17 at Wembley Arena, London, giving him what looks for all the world like one final fling at the snooker big-time. Will the veteran cue-man be able to grasp the opportunity and use it as a springboard to a fairy-tale Indian summer, or will it be an appearance that signals the end of a brilliant – yet tantalisingly incomplete – snooker career?
White, who turned professional in 1980, is justly described on worldsnooker.com as a player who “has brought joy to millions with his attacking brand of snooker and capacity to play astonishing shots using screw and side spin”. Yet there is another reason for the Londoner’s enduring popularity – the nearly-man status that has been perpetuated by his six losing appearances in the final of the snooker World Championship* including an agonising five-year run of defeats between 1990 and 1994, four of which to nemesis Stephen Hendry.
For White’s many supporters, there is still the lingering hope, however remote, that he might somehow find it in him to have one last tilt at the world crown. The possibility is remote (to say the least) because White dropped out of the elite top 16 in the world several seasons ago, leaving the left-hander running the gauntlet of gruelling pre-tournament qualifying events. He is now ranked #56 and is set to slip to #62 according to the provisional list, with the last of his 10 ranking titles dating back to 2004. At the age of 47 (date of birth May 2, 1962), time is very much running out for White to make a return to prominence.
The optimistic scenario for White at the 2010 Masters is that – perhaps given a new lease of life by his recent appearance on the “I’m a Celebrity” TV jungle show – he advances far enough into the draw to raise genuine hopes of a renaissance. (Though it does not carry ranking points, the Masters – billed as snooker’s premier invitational tournament – is roughly on a par in prestige terms with the UK Championship, which is second only in standing to the World Championship).
Taking a look at the Masters draw, White’s opening, best-of-11-frame encounter with world #16 Mark King on January 10 looks winnable. If the Whirlwind could then somehow find a way of extinguishing world #2 Stephen “On Fire” Maguire in the next round, he should consider himself in decent shape to beat either Ryan Day or Joe Perry for a place in the semis. If White gets anything like that far, you can expect plenty of talk of “vintage Jimmy” and scope for wind-based headline-writing of the “Whirlwind whips up a storm” variety. Even if he were then unable to go on to repeat his 1984 Masters triumph, White would come away from Wembley with a massive confidence boost: his own website already boldly proclaims that “The Whirlwind’s form is as good as ever” and that “all eyes are on the 2010 World Championship!”, with the dates for the World Championship qualifying (24 Feb 2010 - 9 Mar 2010) and for the World Championship itself (17 Apr 2010 - 3 May 2010) both written into his on-line diary.
The less optimistic (and frankly more realistic) scenario is that the Whirlwind of London Town is blown out of the competition by King or Maguire early on and it is back to square one. If snooker’s powers-that-be are assuming that granting White a wildcard is a quick fix guaranteed to revive public interest in the sport then they do not have very long memories. White was previously awarded a wildcard for the 2007 Masters which resulted only in an abject 6-1 defeat to then world #15 Matthew Stevens in the opening round. It was a performance suggestive of a player struggling for form and/or to justify his invitation to the event. (White subsequently lost out in qualifying for the 2008 and 2009 Masters).
If there is any repeat of the Stevens performance this year, it is safe to assume that this is the last time that White will be invited back. In the snooker blogosphere, one or two are already speculating that this could be White’s last season on the main snooker tour. All in all, it is certainly conceivable that this month’s Masters could be White’s last appearance on the big snooker stage.
It would not be like QoS to sign off without a prediction: this correspondent will err on the side of optimism (we could do with some New Year’s cheer after all!) and back White for the mitigated success of edging past King before losing rather comprehensively to Maguire. In any case, let’s bid White well (and hopefully not farewell) with some pre-emptive Wembley rowdiness: “C’mon Jimmy!!”
* Jimmy White’s World Championship final agonies…
1984: lost to Steve Davis 18-16
1990: lost to Stephen Hendry 18-12
1991: lost to John Parrott 18-11
1992: lost to Stephen Hendry 18-14
1993: lost to Stephen Hendry 18-5
1994: lost to Stephen Hendry 18-17
For White’s many supporters, there is still the lingering hope, however remote, that he might somehow find it in him to have one last tilt at the world crown. The possibility is remote (to say the least) because White dropped out of the elite top 16 in the world several seasons ago, leaving the left-hander running the gauntlet of gruelling pre-tournament qualifying events. He is now ranked #56 and is set to slip to #62 according to the provisional list, with the last of his 10 ranking titles dating back to 2004. At the age of 47 (date of birth May 2, 1962), time is very much running out for White to make a return to prominence.
The optimistic scenario for White at the 2010 Masters is that – perhaps given a new lease of life by his recent appearance on the “I’m a Celebrity” TV jungle show – he advances far enough into the draw to raise genuine hopes of a renaissance. (Though it does not carry ranking points, the Masters – billed as snooker’s premier invitational tournament – is roughly on a par in prestige terms with the UK Championship, which is second only in standing to the World Championship).
Taking a look at the Masters draw, White’s opening, best-of-11-frame encounter with world #16 Mark King on January 10 looks winnable. If the Whirlwind could then somehow find a way of extinguishing world #2 Stephen “On Fire” Maguire in the next round, he should consider himself in decent shape to beat either Ryan Day or Joe Perry for a place in the semis. If White gets anything like that far, you can expect plenty of talk of “vintage Jimmy” and scope for wind-based headline-writing of the “Whirlwind whips up a storm” variety. Even if he were then unable to go on to repeat his 1984 Masters triumph, White would come away from Wembley with a massive confidence boost: his own website already boldly proclaims that “The Whirlwind’s form is as good as ever” and that “all eyes are on the 2010 World Championship!”, with the dates for the World Championship qualifying (24 Feb 2010 - 9 Mar 2010) and for the World Championship itself (17 Apr 2010 - 3 May 2010) both written into his on-line diary.
The less optimistic (and frankly more realistic) scenario is that the Whirlwind of London Town is blown out of the competition by King or Maguire early on and it is back to square one. If snooker’s powers-that-be are assuming that granting White a wildcard is a quick fix guaranteed to revive public interest in the sport then they do not have very long memories. White was previously awarded a wildcard for the 2007 Masters which resulted only in an abject 6-1 defeat to then world #15 Matthew Stevens in the opening round. It was a performance suggestive of a player struggling for form and/or to justify his invitation to the event. (White subsequently lost out in qualifying for the 2008 and 2009 Masters).
If there is any repeat of the Stevens performance this year, it is safe to assume that this is the last time that White will be invited back. In the snooker blogosphere, one or two are already speculating that this could be White’s last season on the main snooker tour. All in all, it is certainly conceivable that this month’s Masters could be White’s last appearance on the big snooker stage.
It would not be like QoS to sign off without a prediction: this correspondent will err on the side of optimism (we could do with some New Year’s cheer after all!) and back White for the mitigated success of edging past King before losing rather comprehensively to Maguire. In any case, let’s bid White well (and hopefully not farewell) with some pre-emptive Wembley rowdiness: “C’mon Jimmy!!”
* Jimmy White’s World Championship final agonies…
1984: lost to Steve Davis 18-16
1990: lost to Stephen Hendry 18-12
1991: lost to John Parrott 18-11
1992: lost to Stephen Hendry 18-14
1993: lost to Stephen Hendry 18-5
1994: lost to Stephen Hendry 18-17
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