Jimmy White exclusive: ‘I could have won five World Championships if I wasn’t partying’
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Updated 11/01/2023 at 13:03 GMT
Ten-time ranking event winner Jimmy White believes he “could have won five World Championships” had it not been for partying in the 1980s and 90s. White lost six finals at the Crucible, including a final-frame decider to Stephen Hendry in 1994. However, he made it clear to Eurosport that he is “not finished yet”. Stream the 2023 Masters on discovery+.
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Jimmy White feels he could have been a five-time snooker world champion had it not been for partying.
White reached six World Championship finals, losing four times to Stephen Hendry and also to Steve Davis and John Parrott.
His sixth final in 1994 against Hendry went to a final-frame decider. The Whirlwind was in and looked set to lift the trophy for the first time, but missed a black off its spot and lost the match.
“I could have won five World Championships if I wasn’t partying,” White told Eurosport.
“I never thought I would be playing now. I thought I would be living in Thailand, playing golf!
“Twenty years ago I thought I was done because I was no good anymore. I was on the road, playing on rubbish tables, drinking and doing all the wrong things.
“Now my life is in order and I have great practice facilities. My son helps me so I’m not going to turn around and say to him, ‘Not today’. I will do it regardless of how I feel.”
Asked whether his World Championship final losses were something he often thinks about, White answered: “Sometimes, but I’m not finished yet.”
White dropped out of the top 64 for the first time in 37 years in 2017, meaning he lost his tour card. But he was awarded an invitational tour card, along with Ken Doherty.
He received another one in 2021 which expires at the end of this season, and he is currently on the verge of not needing an invitational tour card, following his qualifying run at the UK Championship in November which saw him reach the main draw for the first time since 2010.
The 10-time ranking event winner turns 61 years old in May and still has plenty of belief that he can mix it with some of the best players.
“I love it [snooker] still,” he said. “I will go deep in a tournament very soon.
“As long as your eyes are OK and you have got the desire to practice, you can carry on. I love entertaining. I know I can still win.
“Steve Davis told me recently that I was born in the wrong era because there was a lot of safety in the '80s and I was more attacking.
“Then Hendry came along and he was attacking like myself, but I can still compete now because my game is all about getting in, pot a long red and win the frame.”
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