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Jimmy White wins first World Championship qualifier in Sheffield

Last updated on .From the section Snookercomments37

Jimmy White

Jimmy White has won his first qualifying match as he bids to reach the main stages of the 2013 World Snooker Championship.

White, 50, beat China's Tian Pengfei 10-7 at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield on Monday.

The six-time World Championship runner-up will meet China's Xiao Guodong in the next qualifying round on Wednesday.

White would then have to beat Robert Milkins, 37, to qualify for the main event at the Crucible in Sheffield.

Trailing 5-4 at the end of the first session, White, ranked 57th in the world, won six of the next eight frames to seal victory against his 25-year-old opponent.

White now plays 24-year-old Xiao, the world number 38, with the winner going on to face Milkins, who is ranked 19th in the world.

Elsewhere, Thailand trio Thepchaiya Un-Nooh, Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon and James Wattana advanced into the third qualifying round, beating Gerard Greene, Mike Dunn and Michael Wasley respectively, while there were also wins for China's Zhang Anda and Norway's Kurt Maflin.

Wattana, 43, a former world number three who reached the Crucible semi-finals in 1993 and 1997, will next play the emerging Jack Lisowski.

Pankaj Advani, who became the first Indian player to reach the quarter-final of a ranking event at February's Welsh Open, fell at the first qualifying hurdle on Sunday, beaten 10-8 by two-time Crucible semi-finalist Joe Swail.

Luca Brecel, the 18-year-old Belgian who became the youngest player - at 17 - to qualify for the World Championship last year, lost 10-6 to Glaswegian Fraser Patrick.

The qualifying phase lasts until Sunday, 14 April, before the main World Championship begins on Saturday, 20 April.

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37 comments

  • Comment posted by Finchy, at 12:57 9 Apr 2013

    Many years back I witnessed a 16 yr old lad make a 137 break, in about 5 minutes, at my mates' house in Kingston. It was Jimmy White - he'd just won the world amatuer championship. There were only 3 of us in the room watching him !!! Brings a lump to my throat remembering that evening. The bloke is a legend.
    The game is just played by a load of boring spotty kids nowadays.

  • Comment posted by godfather, at 12:41 9 Apr 2013

    Jimmy White legend

  • Comment posted by User0170960891, at 11:44 9 Apr 2013

    RE8, Daniel. I'm afraid I can't agree with you. You only have to look at the rankings in the late 80s and early 90s to see the plethora of talent around at that time. It was most definitely not a weak era.

  • Comment posted by the_blue_panda, at 12:37 9 Apr 2013

    If you get a chance, check out the full list of qualifiers. There's some people on here I'd forgotten about - McMannus, Drago, Swail...Good luck to all the old guard. I'd love to see you back at the Crucible one last time.

    http://www.worldsnooker.com/staticFiles/ac/bb/0,,13165~179116,00.pdf

  • Comment posted by SportBilly, at 12:46 9 Apr 2013

    @15 agreed, but the 92 final finished White off mentally, as @16 suggests. I hope he did'nt go into the 94 final thinking it, but in the back of his mind I wonder if he was already beaten, I am sure that often happens in other sports head to head battles.
    Drago back on the scene (what a potter), just hope those waistcoats keep the bulge in, otherwise he may need to use the rest to break off!!

  • Comment posted by User0769167789, at 12:52 9 Apr 2013

    Life starts at 50 Jimmy. Enjoy yourself and all the very best wishes.

  • Comment posted by D1679571414280, at 12:44 9 Apr 2013

    Lovely guy, Jimmy. Like many sporstmen he never quite got the 'Big One' someone mentioned Monty in golf, also there was Stirling Moss in formula 1, Ken Rosewall at Wimbledon, and on the othe hand you get 'one off' champions that come from nowhere and disappear just as quick.Sadly thats life.

  • Comment posted by User0122566486, at 15:09 9 Apr 2013

    Here's an old term me and my mates used to use before we played a game of pool or snooker: "Jim's all the way" - meaning no safety shots, just get on with it and try to pot everything!

    It would be great to see him get to the Crucible, he's been working (relatively!) hard recently trying to put his game in order and it would be great to see him let rip, regardless of outcome!

    Good luck Jimmy.

  • Comment posted by User0481424862, at 14:03 9 Apr 2013

    best we can probably hope for is for him to be drawn against a top seed in round 1 and win - would be great to see.

    but 15 years have passed since he was a genuine contender.

  • Comment posted by SportBilly, at 12:17 9 Apr 2013

    I love JW, he and A Higgins made snooker watchable, now we have Ronnie. JW greatest player to not win the title, like Monty in golf with the majors everything but that top prize. Hendry ruined many a bank holiday for me, especially the won where he reeled off ten perfect frames, that finished Jimmy.
    I think these days he will do well to qualify....

  • Comment posted by User0769446561, at 13:18 9 Apr 2013

    Great to hear Jimmy's getting back to somewhere near
    his best snooker. I really think it could be Ronnie and Jimmy in the final this year. Come on Jimmy!

  • Comment posted by Daniel, at 16:31 9 Apr 2013

    Funny then that we don't get anyone reaching 5 finals in a row today, and facing the same opponent 4 of those times. Deny it all you like, it was a weak era. Hendry has said so. Jimmy has said so.

  • Comment posted by User0022281170, at 11:05 9 Apr 2013

    On a slight tangent, can they have a seniors tour/champions tour in snooker like they do in golf?

    It would be great to see past greats like Davis, Hendry, Thorburn, Taylor and White all involved in matches together.

  • Comment posted by User0733594335, at 21:53 9 Apr 2013

    I, for one, will be rooting for Jimmy. Keep it together man, you can still do it!

  • Comment posted by User0973990054, at 13:12 9 Apr 2013

    Jimmy is an absolute legend no doubt. I've still got my Jimmy White 'signed' cue somewhere in my mums loft. Unfortunately, the fact that we are reminiscing about Jimmy rather than discussing the new hot prospect coming through the qualifiers tells you everything you need to know about the state of snooker today

  • Comment posted by User0138791583, at 12:25 9 Apr 2013

    It's a shame Jimmy never won the title, having won pretty much everything else. He arguably should have won at least three times ('82, '92 and '94) but by his own admission never quite had the mental fortitude to get over the line. Despite that he's never once moaned about his lot, remaining good friends with Hendry and still enjoying the game even when he's struggling. A model professional.

  • Comment posted by User0081619025, at 14:41 9 Apr 2013

    Good luck Jimmy although your best days are certainly gone.
    Shaping up to be one of the closest WCs in recent years with Selby, Robertson, Allen, Higgins, Murphy, WIlliams, McGuire, Trump, Ding all capable of winning.
    Throw in the return of Ronnie and exciting talents such as Brecel, Lisowski, McGinn - should be a classic.
    Snooker is in a better state than some people on here seem to realise.

  • Comment posted by User0733594335, at 22:03 9 Apr 2013

    15.umpteenth_time_user save 606
    10 Hours ago
    @13 Hendry won those 10 straight frames in the 1992 final, coming back from 8-14 down to win 18-14. Many of those frames were close that Hendry just manage to pinch.

    That didn't finish Jimmy, he faced Hendry again in the 1994 final.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o04Wb_s5NT0
    ==
    Thanks for posting that link - not seen that before.

  • Comment posted by Clive, at 07:16 10 Apr 2013

    @26 Really? Can you please tell me what you are drinking?

  • Comment posted by Darpor, at 11:09 9 Apr 2013

    @3.Random16

    They already do, Jimmy White actually won the inaugural one in 2010.

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