Richard Hercock: Catch ‘People’s Champion’ White on snooker’s legends tour

Well when it comes to snooker, the answer is Jimmy White and the question is ‘Who is the best player never to be crowned World Champion?’

For the 49-year-old reached an amazing six Crucible finals, yet lost them all, to earn himself the title the ‘People’s Champion’ such was the affection that the nation showed him.

Not that his mantlepiece was shot of trophies, he has picked up 28 titles in a career which spans over 30 years and nearly £5m in prize money alone. Not bad for a child who from the age of nine spent more time in the snooker halls than the classroom, as he constantly played truant.

But a Crucible triumph has so far eluded the Tooting-born left-hander, yet that would have been hard to believe after he came so close to beating Steve Davis, who was in his prime, back in 1984.

White trailed 12-4 after the first two sessions, but the Whirlwind slashed the deficit to 17-16 and looked in control when he built a 40-point lead only for Davis to scramble over the line and clinch an 18-16 victory.

Davis would go on to dominate the Eighties, so when White actually ended his nemesis’s four-year unbeaten run in Sheffield in 1990 at the semi-final stage, many expected White would at last reach the pinnacle of the game.

But along came Scotsman Stephen Hendry who completed an 18-12 final win, and set the tone for a decade of dominance to match what Davis had done in the Eighties.

White would go on to contest five successive finals, losing each time.

Four times to Hendry, once to Liverpudlian John Parrott.

It was in 1992 that many will remember, as White looked impressive as he took a 14-8 lead, needing just four more frames to clinch the title at the famous Crucible Theatre.

But Hendry showed amazing determination, along with some sizzling snooker and a few centuries along the way, to reel off 10 successive frames for an 18-14 success which to this day is one of sport’s greatest comebacks.

One of the perks of being a sports journalist is you get to interview some of your idols. This last week I spoke to both White and Hendry and both are true gentleman of sport.

White recalled their famous Crucible finals: “We have had some wonderful matches, Hendry has beaten me four times in four finals – the other ones I lost was John Parrott where he built up an early seven-frame lead and Steve Davis when I lost 18-16.

“With Hendry I was 14-8 up thinking who to thank, who not to thank, and all of a sudden it was 14-12.

“In another final I twitched on the black,” remembers White, talking about the 1994 final, where his final with Hendry went to the final frame, the match locked at 17-17.

White was on a break of 29, leading the contest by 37-24, when he missed a straightforward black off its spot.

Hendry grabbed the opportunity, knocking in a 58 break to win the title once more and heap more heartache on White.

It was compelling viewing, and while there is no world title up for grabs this time, the two snooker legends will be returning to the Crucible next month for a night called ‘Crucible Memories’.

It’s part of the excellent Snooker Legends Tour, which sees some of the game’s all-time greats tour the country putting on exhibition events.

Now in its third year, Snooker Legends features players like Davis, White, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Dennis Taylor, John Parrott, Ken Doherty, Cliff Thorburn, Tony Drago, John Virgo and top referee Michaela Tabb.

Seven-time World Champion Hendry will be looking to continue his impressive Crucible record against the Whirlwind on Friday, April 13, before they come up on opposing sides in the 2012 Legends Cup.

A three-day event, it sees England and Northern Ireland take on a Rest of the World team in snooker’s version of the Ryder Cup.

Staged the weekend after the World Championship final in Sheffield, it will be played May 11-13 at Bedworth Civic Hall in the Midlands.

Teaming up with White for England and Northern Ireland will be captain Dennis Taylor, O’Sullivan, and Parrott, while alongside Hendry for the Rest of the World will be captain Thorburn, Doherty and Drago. Eight true legends with 15 World titles between them.

Those who fancy a little more nostalgia can then watch Davis face Taylor in a repeat of the classic 1985 ‘black ball’ final at the Victoria Hall, Stoke, on May 16.

With all this snooker talk, it whets the appetite for this year’s World Championship at the Crucible, which starts next month.

It doesn’t seem 12 months ago that the largely unknown Judd Trump arrived on the scene by winning the China Open. He arrived at the Crucible as a rank outsider only to rip through the competition with some breathtaking, attacking snooker and was only denied in the final by John Higgins.

Trump is good news for snooker, which is crying out for personalities to attract a new generation to the sport, and there’s likely to be a few new names who come to the fore over the next 12 months.

They will likely be in action at the World Championship qualifiers at Sheffield’s English Institute of Sport from April 5-15, alongside household names like White, Davis and Hendry.

With EIS tickets starting at just £5, this is a great deal by World Snooker and a chance to watch some of the game’s finest in action.

Now back to my original question, can I really say Sheffield Wednesday are the best team never to have won the Premier League?

For ticket details check out www.snookerlegends.co.uk and www.worldsnooker.com/tickets