WHIRLWIND – THE INCREDIBLE STORY OF JIMMY WHITE

Aubrey Malone

With 10 Ranking tournament wins and over 3 million pounds of prize money to his name, Jimmy White is undoubtedly one of the most colourful characters in the game.

The book is full of interesting little facts and quotes.Very well worded, the language is not over complicated like other books on White have been. I picked it up and didn't put it down again until it was finished.

The book tells of various shenanigans with Alex Higgins and numerous battles with Steve Davis in the 80's and particularly Stephen Hendry in the 90's. He faced Hendry in 4 World Finals in 1990, 1992, 1993 and 1994 and should really have won 2 of them(Whites black etc).'Snatching defeat out of the jaws of victory'is a term mentioned several times during the book.

Reasons why Jimmy White didn't win the World Title are also suggested. For example, Ronnie O'Sullivan believes one of the reasons was because he practised hard for Sheffield but not hard enough for the rest of the snooker calender and the 17 day ordeal eventually got to him. Steve Davis said he simply ‘rushed key shots.'

Always a popular draw, White had his hangers on who often thought matches were a foregone conclusion-before they were even played.

A fascinating read about the best World Champion snooker never had.

Steve Billingham