Fast Results

Scores

Jimmy White beat Dominic Dale

Snooker results: Jimmy White rolls back the years to qualify for the UK Championship after beating Dominic Dale

By Chris Hammer

Snooker

Thu November 10, 2022 · 2y ago

Jimmy White thrilled snooker fans around the world as he qualified for the UK Championship with a 6-1 victory over Dominic Dale in Sheffield.

The 60-year-old legend began the week at Ponds Forge needing four victories to reach the televised stages of snooker's second biggest ranking event, which he famously won way back in 1992 against John Parrott.

But after thumping both Victor Sarkis and Mitchell Mann 6-0 in his first two matches, he then upset the odds to overcome six-time ranking event winner Stephen Maguire 6-4 in round three, having previously trailed 3-1.

On 'Judgement Day' of qualification, White faced Welsh veteran Dale for a place at York's Barbican and despite all the pressure, the Whirlwind cruised to a resounding 6-1 win to earn his spot at York's Barbican.

There were no half century breaks from either player in a largely scrappy match but White won't care as he out fought his 50-year-old opponent in six of the seven frames to create another piece of history.

White, who first played in the tournament back in 1981 and hasn't featured in the main stage for 12 years, becomes the first player aged 60 or older to reach the last 32 of a ranking event since Eddie Charlton in 1993.

🙌🌪️ The moment 60-year-old Jimmy White qualified for the UK Championship!

👏 He's the first player aged 60 or older to reach the last 32 of a ranking tournament since Eddie Charlton back in 1993! pic.twitter.com/XdqnVB49YJ
— Sporting Life 🎯🔴🎾⛳️🥊🏏🏉 🏈 (@SportingLifeFC) November 9, 2022

White will find out which of the world's top 16 he will face in the opening round when the draw takes place on Thursday afternoon - but during his post-match interview, he needed convincing that it wasn't already guaranteed to be Jack Lisowski.

Everyone wants Jimmy White to be drawn against Ronnie O'Sullivan at the UK Championship.

But after this fantastic interview with Rob Walker (have you ever seen a reporter this enthusiastic to talk to anyone?!), it would be funny if he gets Jack Lisowski! pic.twitter.com/8O1cyNCWwh
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) November 9, 2022

When the confusion was cleared up, White told Rob Walker: "I've been hitting the ball well for quite some time, but I've not had any results at all. I won my first match 6-0, played OK. I won my next match, something really clicked. I fancied my next match with Stephen Maguire, still a competent player.

"Today's match with Dominic, the first session was so scrappy. I was so lucky to get out 3-1 up. Sometimes when you play bad, it gets a bit embarrassing. Then I thought the likes of John Higgins, sometimes he struggles but you've still got to play matchplay snooker - treat it like a job.

"I played a little better. I'm buzzing!

Sky Bet's latest offer for Sporting Life readers

"If I didn't think I could win, I wouldn't play. We're very lucky us snooker players, it's not like football or boxing. If you've got the passion to practise and keep your game in fairly good shape, you can go on."

Asked how high this ranks amongst his other achievements, which include 10 ranking titles and the Masters, the six-time World Championship runner-up said: "You'll have to ask me after I win it because I'm not here to just make the numbers up. If I bring my A game, I can win the competition."

Incredible achievement from Jimmy White to qualify for the UK Championship at the age of 60...and 30 years since he won it! He never stops believing he can reach the biggest occasions despite so much heartache and really deserves this moment. What an inspiration. 👏 pic.twitter.com/KxGF2np205
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) November 9, 2022

Another former UK champion Matthew Stevens let slip a 4-0 lead over Wu Yize, but eventually prevailed 6-5 to secure his place in the final stages.

The 45-year-old, who won this title in 2003, made breaks of 126, 63, 75 and 57 to race into a 4-0 lead only for China’s Wu to take the next three frames within 36 minutes with runs of 73, 87 and 55.

Stevens said: “At 4-1 I could see that Wu fancied it. Before I knew it, it was 4-4. I should have gone 5-3 so when he won that frame and then went ahead it wasn’t looking good. I don’t know how I managed to turn it around and win the last two frames but it feels good and I’m very happy to still be in it. Wu is some talent for a 19-year-old, he looks like he’s going to be a fantastic player.”

Iran’s Hossein Vafaei booked his spot in York with a 6-4 success over Robbie Williams while China’s Lyu Haotian eased to a 6-1 win over Andy Hicks with top breaks of 92, 106 and 69 and Northern Ireland Open runner-up Zhou Yuelong saw off Jak Jones 6-3 with breaks of 78, 117, 84 and 72.

Welshman Jamie Clarke raced into a 5-0 lead over Duane Jones with top breaks of 77, 75, 52 and 63. Jones recovered to 5-3 before Clarke sealed a 6-3 win with a run of 89.

Tom Ford was in fine form in a 6-3 defeat of Noppon Saengkham, firing breaks of 58, 102, 54, 108 and 82. Xu Si top scored with 99 as he won a Chinese derby against Tian Pengfei 6-4.

Judgement Day continues on Thursday from 1pm with eight more places to be won.

The tournament runs from Saturday November 12 until Sunday November 20 and will be broadcast on BBC and Eurosport. All matches up to and including the semi-finals are best of 11 frames, then the final is best of 19.

UK Championship: 2022 draw bracket

Draw will take place on Thursday, with 16 qualifiers being paired with the world's top 16. Seedings in brackets

(1) Zhao Xintong v Qualifier
(16) Ryan Day v Qualifier
(9) Mark Allen v Qualifier
(8) Kyren Wilsin v Qualifier
(5) Mark Selby v Qualifier
(12) Jack Lisowski v Qualifier
(13) Shaun Murphy v Qualifier
(4) Judd Trump v Qualifier
(3) Neil Robertson v Qualifier
(14) Stuart Bingham v Qualifier
(11) Luca Brecel v Qualifier
(6) John Higgins v Qualifier
(7) Mark Williams v Qualifier
(10) Barry Hawkins v Qualifier
(15) Yan Bingtao v Qualifier
(2) Ronnie O'Sullivan v Qualifier

UK Championship: How to watch

BBC television and online via the iPlayer; Eurosport television and online via Eurosport Player.

UK Championship prize money

Winner: £200,000
Runner-up: £80,000
Semi-final: £40,000
Quarter-final: £24,500
Last 16: £17,000
Last 32: £12,000
Last 64: £6,500
Highest break: £15,000

UK Championship History

The UK Championship is one of snooker's most prestigious tournaments and is widely considered the second biggest ranking event behind the World Championship at the Crucible.

Along with the World Championship and the Masters, the UK Championship makes up snooker's Triple Crown and any player winning all three tournaments during their careers becomes an undisputed legend of the sport.

The UK Championship was first staged in 1977 in Blackpool, when Ireland's Patsy Fagan defeated Doug Mountjoy, but has since been held in Preston, Bournemouth, Telford and York's Barbican Centre, where the event currently takes place.

Steve Davis dominated the early years of the event with six titles between 1980 and 1987 before Stephen Hendry took a firm grip on the game with five championships of his own - although he could not stop John Parrott and Jimmy White lifting the trophy in 1991 and 1992.

Ronnie O'Sullivan famously first triumphed in 1993 at the age of just 17, making him the youngest winner of any ranking snooker event, and he also made history in 2001 when thrashing Ken Doherty 10-1 to record the final's biggest margin of victory. Three years later Stephen Maguire equalled that record against David Gray.

Scotland's John Higgins is among the tournament's most successful players with three UK Championship crowns while Welshmen Mark Williams (twice) and Matthew Stevens are also on the roll of honour alongside English quartet Peter Ebdon, Shaun Murphy, Judd Trump and Mark Selby.

In 2005, teenager Ding Junhui became the first player from outside Britain and Ireland to win the event with a 10-6 victory over a 48-year-old Steve Davis, who was competing in his first UK Championship final since 1990, and the Chinese star repeated the feat in 2009 against John Higgins.

Australia's Neil Robertson became the second non-European winner of the tournament in 2013 when he defeated Mark Selby and he surely won't be the last as the contingent of talented snooker players from around the globe continues to grow.

In 2014 O'Sullivan won the UK Championship for the fifth time by beating Judd Trump 10-9 in a thriller although the Rocket decided not to defend his title in 2015 as Robertson went on to defeat Liang Wenbo in the final.

In 2016, Mark Selby became only the ninth player in the history of the event to lift the trophy more than once before O'Sullivan won back-t0-back titles in 2017 and 2018 to become the most successful player in the tournament's history.

Junhui picked up his third UK crown in 2019, defeating O'Sullivan along the way, before Robertson overcame Trump 10-9 at around 1am in 2020 to complete one of the most dramatic final victories.

Last year's finalists upset the odds to get that far, with Zhao Xintong overcoming Luca Brecel 10-5.