Original title: Jimmy White’s old Ji Fuzheng entered the British Championship at the age of 60
Beijing Youth Daily reporter Liu Ailin
In the early morning of November 10th, Beijing time, the qualifying round of the British Snooker Championship took the lead in producing 8 players to participate in the main match in Sheffield. To the cheers of the old fans, Jimmy White, born in 1962, won 6-1. Defeated Dominic Dyer, who was born in 1971, and won this veteran duel with players with a combined age of 111. He became the first player since the start of the tournament to start from the first round of the qualifying round and reach the main stage in a row. player of. A former snooker legend, a 60-year-old veteran who has left countless legends and classic scenes on the rivers and lakes, and a British Championship champion 30 years ago, still continues his career on the table.
The last time Jimmy White qualified for the main event of the three major snooker competitions was at the Wembley Masters in 2010, and this time he reached the highest stage of snooker again after 12 years. There are four qualifying rounds for the British Championship, and White, who has long passed his peak, is ranked lower and has to start from the first round. After passing the first three rounds, White faced Dale, who was 9 years younger than him, in the final round leading to the race. The two of them are no longer young, and it is very difficult to hit a single-shot high score, let alone 100 shots, and even failed to hit a single-shot 50+ in all 7 innings, the two kept sitting down and getting up, “running around. “Between the seats and the table, make the audience look both admirable and a little sour. In the end, White came out on top, won the game 6-1 and advanced to the race.
Jimmy White said after the game: “I’m not going to just go to York (Yorkshire, where the British Championships are held) to be a denominator, I can still hit the ball like a top player when my game feels like it, they just More consistent than me. If I don’t think I can win, I don’t play. Even at my age, if you have the passion to practice, you can keep playing.” In the heart of the player, he is still smug, which is awe-inspiring.
The older generation of Chinese snooker fans are very familiar with Jimmy White. He is almost the same generation as the old ball king Steve Davis. He is 5 years younger than Davis and older than the “Billiard Emperor” Hendry. He is 7 years older and is a legendary player who is the link between two generations of superstars, but he is also the most tragic figure who was “suppressed” by two great stars. Jimmy White has reached the World Championship finals six times in his career, and he has been the runner-up in all six times. He is the uncrowned king of snooker. The closest he came to a World Championship final was in 1994, when White and 25-year-old Hendry drew 17 and lost the tiebreaker. That was his fifth consecutive World Championship final defeat (1990-1994, another in 1984), and White hasn’t reached a World Championship final since. Despite this, Jimmy White, who has won 23 championships in various competitions and is called “white whirlwind” by fans, still occupies a place in the history of snooker development and is loved by countless fans.
White’s style is elegant and unrestrained, and his “Golden Left Hand” nickname is much longer than the current Mark Williams has earned this nickname. He likes to be cool in the game, show his skills, and hit it many times. Incredible hitting, so he is also one of the most entertaining players in snooker. In the 1993 Super League, his super-difficult solution to snooker was called “the solution of the century” for snooker.
White is liked by many Chinese fans because he once participated in Stephen Chow’s movie “Descendants of the Dragon”, playing his true identity – a professional snooker player.
White is also a loyal fan of the Premier League Chelsea team. On the snooker court, White is known as “the people’s champion”, “the emperor of the commoners”, and also known as “the best player who has never won a world championship”. Jimmy White on the field is a model of fair play. He has taken the initiative to point out the omission of his foul to the referee many times during the game.
At the age of 60, he can still reach the finals of the three major snooker competitions. Jimmy White’s life has long been integrated into the sport of snooker, and the legend continues.