White - rolled back the years on Wednesday
WHITE COMPLETES MEMORABLE COMEBACK
Click here for Crucible scoreboard
Click here for latest results
Click here for order of play
Click here for more from the Crucible
Jimmy White was in seventh heaven after at the Crucible Theatre after
completing a famous comeback victory over James Wattana in the £1.682 million
Embassy World Championship at Sheffield.
White gained only his second victory in a ranking event this season by
recovering from 6-3 down overnight to defeat the Thai 10-6.
And the Whirlwind's great recovery will give Ronnie O'Sullivan heart he can do
the same against another Asian star, Marco Fu, later this afternoon.
White now plays Stephen Lee for a place in the last eight but, despite this
victory, he will need to improve his standard by another few levels to stand any
chance of upsetting the world number seven.
White, never at his best during the morning sessions, took the chances
presented him by a struggling Wattana who had been 4-0 up during Tuesday's
first session.
However, Wattana was a pale imitation of the player who twice reached the
world semi-finals and was once ranked three in the world.
He missed so many easy balls White probably thought his 41st birthday on May 2
had come early.
Wattana should have halted his run of losses in frame 16 after White had
missed the blue.
Wattana managed to pot blue and pink to leave himself a straightforward black
to reduce his arrears to 8-7.
Inexplicably he rattled the jaws and promptly conceded before White could pot
the black.
He had another chance in what proved to be the final frame but fluffed a bad
brown and the game was over a few shots later.
"I've been trying ever so hard but yesterday I played so badly," admitted
the six- times Crucible finalist.
"I've not even seen Ronnie O'Sullivan's 147 break and he's a good friend of
mine.
"But I was so gutted with the way I played I didn't want to watch it. I just
chilled out with a couple of mates in my room and we watched Sopranos
instead."
White managed only one half-century on Tuesday but improved to make breaks of
51, 52 and 67 as Wattana laboured with a top effort of just 33.
"I felt sorry for Jimmy," said White. "He's been about since day one but he
is clearly struggling."
White's victory does not yet guarantee his place in the top 16 but he finished
in the money.
Dad Tom wagered £1500 on his son winning the match at 9-4 and also had a side
bet of £100 at 33-1 on White winning 10-6, netting him a tidy profit of over
£6,000.
Wattana said: "I'm pleased to see him performing so well in front of his own
crowd.
"I don't know how he does it, especially at the age of 40. I couldn't perform
like that.
"Jimmy potted some good balls and to be honest I couldn't handle the
pressure. And that surprised me."
Click here to send us your sporting feedback
