How Jimmy White helped good pal Ronnie O'Sullivan win fifty grand jackpot at Players Championship
The Players Championship takes place this week in Telford, and it’s a title that is on snooker legend Jimmy White’s illustrious career CV, albeit played under a different format when he won it.
White - who is still plying his trade on the professional circuit at the age of 63 - is often labelled as the ‘greatest player never to have won the World Championship’. But he has ‘earned’ that tag due to his brilliant achievements elsewhere within the sport.
The six-time Crucible finalist is a former Masters and UK Champion, and part of an exclusive band of players who have claimed ten or more ranking event titles on the professional circuit.
The latest one of those accolades came at the 2004 Players Championship held at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre in Glasgow. The format of the event was different back then, with all tour card holders permitted to enter the event; nowadays, qualification is through the one-year/seasonal list only.
During an uncertain time for the sport with the impending end of tobacco sponsorship, this was a big event, televised by Sky Sports and with an £82,500 first prize.
And there was added importance with this tournament being the final counting event towards that season’s LG Electronics Tour - a series that ran during the 2003/04 campaign.
Similar to what we have seen in recent times with the European, and Home Nations Series’ order of merit races, the LG Electronics Tour consisted of seven events held during the term: LG Cup, British Open, UK Championship, Welsh Open, European Open, Irish Masters and Players Championship.
The series had its own ranking list, with cumulative points earned from the seven counting competitions. At the end of the series, the player with the most points earned a £50,000 bonus prize.
The first six LG events had all been won by different players, and going into the final leg, seven cueists could still mathematically scoop the jackpot.
Ronnie O’Sullivan travelled to Scotland in pole position, but he was eliminated in the quarter-finals. However, with other contenders also departing the scene, come the final, only Paul Hunter - who had defeated O’Sullivan - could overtake him for the 50k purse.
Then reigning three-time Masters champion Hunter knew that if he lifted the trophy in Glasgow, he would finish equal with O’Sullivan on points, but claim the bonus on countback.
‘The Beckham of the Baize’ would face a resurgent Jimmy White - who couldn’t win the LG bonus prize - in the title match, who was enjoying his best season for several years having already reached the semi-finals of both the UK Championship and Masters, and the final of the European Open in Malta - his first ranking final in nearly three-and-a-half years.
After ending the challenge of future world champion Shaun Murphy, 5-3, in the last 32, victories over John Parrott (5-2) and Ian McCulloch (5-3) in the last 16 and eight respectively meant that White secured his elite top 16 status for the following season.
With that assurance in the bag, the popular Londoner could solely focus on winning his first ranking crown since the 1992 UK Championship.
Peter Ebdon - who defeated White in the 2000 British Open final - led his opponent 5-3 in the semi-finals, but ‘The Whirlwind’ battled back, stringing together the final three frames for a 6-5 win to set up a final date with Hunter.
A huge final was in store; for White, he could collect his first ranking title in 11-and-a-half years, and for Hunter, there was a difference of £90,000 between winning and losing with the LG bonus available to him, too.
The players were locked at 4-4 after the afternoon session. A few hours later, Hunter deposited the opening frame of the evening to lead for the first time before White went on a four-frame streak to go 8-5 up - one away from a significant personal triumph.
But getting across the finish line wouldn’t be without drama and stress. Hunter closed the gap to 8-7 before White controlled and completed the job in frame 16 for a memorable glory and to push his ranking title tally to double figures.
White’s victory was also O’Sullivan’s gain as ‘The Rocket’ finished top of the LG order of merit and pocketed a £50,000 payday thanks to his good mate who stopped Hunter from doing so.
Sadly, this was Hunter’s last appearance in a professional event final before passing away at the age of just 27 in 2006.