Jimmy White

Infobox Snooker player
Name = Jimmy White


Caption =
Born = birth date and age|1962|5|2
Birthplace =
Nationality = flagicon|England English
Nickname = The Whirlwind

Professional = 1980–
High ranking = #2 (2 years)
Current rank = #65
Prize money = GB£4,674,265 [http://www.worldsnooker.com/players_head_to_head-8982.htm World Snooker profile of White] dead link|date=August 2008]
High break = 147 (1992)
Best finish = 10 wins
Ranking wins = 10
Other wins = 21
World champ = Runner-up (6 times)

James Warren White, MBE (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player, best known as Jimmy White. Nicknamed the "Whirlwind" (and occasionally the "People's Champion")fact|date=August 2008, White is a multiple World Championship finalist. He has been a professional since 1980, the year in which he won the World Amateur title.

Early life

White was born in Tooting, London, United Kingdom, and studied at Ernest Bevin College. He never achieved academic success, as he was often truant from school from the age of eight or nine, spending more and more time at Ted Zanicelli's snooker hall. It was around this time that he met Tony Meo with whom he would compete in money matches in many venues. [cite book | last = White | first = Jimmy | co-authors = and Rosemary Kingsland | year = 1998 | title = Behind the White Ball: My Autobiography | publisher = Hutchinson | location = London | id = ISBN 0-09-180126-5] His natural aptitude for snooker led to a successful amateur career. After winning the English Amateur Championship in 1979, a year later he became the youngest ever winner of the World Amateur Snooker Championship, aged 18.

Career

With a host of major titles and achievements, including ten ranking tournaments, White's overall record ranks puts him well up the list of snooker's most successful players. The BBC describes him as a "legend". [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/6572815.stm Whirlwind Q&A] ] A left-hander, he reached the World Professional Championship Final on six occasions (1984, 1990-1994) but failed to win the sport's most prestigious title since his first attempt in 1981. Nonetheless, his consistency waned in the 2000s and a first-round defeat in the 2006 World Championship saw White drop out of the world's top 32 player rankings. On 20 July 2006, White said that he would go off and play golf in Spain if he thought he had no chance of regaining his former competitiveness: "I guarantee you I will be in the top 16 for next year. I am far too good.fact|date=July 2008 White's continued slide down the rankings saw him drop to 65th (as of May 2008). However, he remains in the 2008-09 professional tour.

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 Cuegloss|Frame|frame and a Cuegloss|Red ball|red and Cuegloss|Colour ball|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 Cuegloss|Pot|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 went Cuegloss|In-off|in-off when compiling a potentially frame-winning break. Hendry moved 15-14 ahead without conceding a further Cuegloss|Point|point and won a closely contested thirtieth frame to lead 16-14. Two Cuegloss|Century|century Cuegloss|#Break|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.

White also reached the final in 1993 but found Hendry much too strong: his 5-18 defeat was the second heaviest reverse in a final in the modern era. However, arguably his best chance came in the 1994 final, his fifth consecutive and third in a row 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 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 Cuegloss|Black ball|black, he would have been required to pot only three more reds (with blacks) to leave Hendry needing penalty points to win. As it happened, Hendry cleared with a technically straightforward break of 58 to win the title. Gracious in defeat, White joked that 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 and Ronnie O'Sullivan.

White is one of only six players to have completed a maximum 147 break at the World Championship (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 points in a match, have cost White dearly. But for these, his record could have been even better. His improvement in the 2003-04 season also highlighted how tough a player White could be when he adopted a more disciplined approach and reined 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.

Tournament Wins

Ranking Wins

*Mercantile Credit Classic - 1986, 1991
*Rothmans Grand Prix - 1986, 1992
*British Open - 1987, 1992
*Canadian Masters - 1988
*European Open - 1992
*UK Championship - 1992
*Players Championship - 2004

Non-Ranking Wins

:"(See [http://www.cajt.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Tourn.htm#_A/ snooker tournament rolls of honour] .)"
*English Amateur Championship - 1979
*World Amateur Championship - 1980
*Indian Amateur Championship - 1980
*Scottish Masters - 1981
*Northern Ireland Classic - 1981
*Hofmeister World Doubles - 1984 (with A. Higgins)
*Benson & Hedges Masters - 1984
*Carlsberg Challenge - 1984, 1985
*Thailand Masters - (season) 1984/85
*Irish Masters - 1985, 1986
*Pot Black - 1986
*Malaysian Masters - (season) 1986/87
*Hong Kong Masters - 1988
*World Matchplay - 1989, 1990
*Mita World Masters - Men's Singles - 1991
*Canal Plus European Challenge - 1991
*Matchroom League - 1993
*Mosconi Cup - 9-ball pool event, member of winning European team
*Pontin's Professional Tournament - 1999
*Nations Cup - 2000 (representing England, with John Parrott, Stephen Lee, and Ronnie O'Sullivan)

Filmography

White had a cameo role as himself (as the World Billiards Champion) in Stephen Chow's 1990 kung fu and billiards comedy film, "Legend of the Dragon".

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). He was introduced to the studio audience on each appearance with the song "Jimmy Jimmy" by the Undertones.

In popular culture

Jimmy White has endorsed three computer games, these being Jimmy White's Whirlwind Snooker, Jimmy Whites's Cueball and Jimmy Whites's Cueball 2. These games have been released on numerous machines from 8 bits up to second generation consoles and mobile phones, computer and video games. These include games for the Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Sega Genesis, Mega Drive, Game Boy Color, Sony PlayStation, Playstation 2, Dreamcast, Xbox and PC platforms.

On June 2007, Jimmy was contracted to the online billiard website Play89.

The band Dustin's Bar Mitzvah wrote a song about him.Clarifyme|date=March 2008

Comedian Bill Hicks makes reference to White on his album Salvation Oxford.

Personal life

White was awarded an MBE in 1999. Coincidentally, the three players to have beaten him in the world finals (Davis, 1984; Hendry, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1994; Parrott, 1991) have also received an MBE. [http://www.worldsnooker.com/Official_Rankings.htm "World Snooker: Players"] ; accessed July 24, 2007]

White is a very keen poker player, and won the second Poker Million tournament, which also included Steve Davis at the final table. [http://poker.ladbrokes.com/Poker-Million-History/en/ "The History of Poker Million"] , at official site of event sponsor Ladbrokes Poker; accessed February 15, 2007.] 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. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/snooker/3519938.stm Profile: Jimmy White MBE"] BBC Profile; accessed July 23, 2007]

White had an operation for testicular cancer in 1995. [http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/health/menshealth.html?in_article_id=53113&in_page_id=1800 Jimmy White: How I beat testicular cancer] Daily Mail; accessed May 1, 2008]

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. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/funny_old_game/4245973.stm "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] 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.

In November 2007, his father, Tommy White, died aged 88. With his daughter Lauren Albert, White is a director of Jimmy White Ltd, which had a turnover of £180,359 in 2006.

References

External links

* [http://www.jimmywhirlwindwhite.com/ Official Jimmy White website]