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William Joseph Thorne (4 March 195417 June 2020)
was an English professional
snooker
Snooker (pronounced , ) is a cue sports, cue sport played on a Billiard table#Snooker and English billiards tables, rectangular table covered with a green cloth called baize, with six Billiard table#Pockets 2, pockets, one at each corner and o ...
player. He won one ranking title, the
1985 Classic. He also reached the final of the
1985 UK Championship, losing 16–14 to
Steve Davis
Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he rea ...
after leading 13–8. He was noted for his break-building, and was among the first players to compile
100 century breaks. He earned the nickname "Mr
Maximum
In mathematical analysis, the maxima and minima (the respective plurals of maximum and minimum) of a function, known collectively as extrema (the plural of extremum), are the largest and smallest value of the function, either within a given ran ...
". After retiring as a player, Thorne became a snooker commentator, primarily for the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
Career
Thorne was born on 4 March 1954 at the family home in
Anstey, a village located near
Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
, to Bill Thorne, a Desford Colliery miner, and his wife Nancy.
He had two brothers.
Thorne was educated at the
Thomas Rawlins School in
Quorn
Quorn is a brand of meat substitute products, or the company that makes them. Quorn originated in the UK and is sold primarily in Europe, but is available in 14 countries. The brand is owned by parent company Monde Nissin.
Quorn is sold as b ...
,
and played multiple sports but excelled the most in snooker.
He began playing snooker while holidaying in Eastbourne at the age of 14.
He left school at age 15 and became an estimator for a glass factory while practising snooker in
Loughborough
Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood borough of Leicestershire, England, the seat of Charnwood Borough Council and Loughborough University. At the 2011 census the town's built-up area had a population of 59,932 , the second larg ...
and then Leicester's snooker halls.
Thorne became national Under-16 snooker champion in 1970,
and won three concesutive National Under-19 Billiards Championship titles from 1971 to 1973.
He turned professional in 1975,
but never really converted his early promise into success, only winning one
ranking
A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second.
In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of o ...
snooker
tournament
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
(The
Classic
A classic is an outstanding example of a particular style; something of lasting worth or with a timeless quality; of the first or highest quality, class, or rank – something that exemplifies its class. The word can be an adjective (a ''c ...
in 1985).
The same year, he reached the
1985 UK Championship final against the then dominant
Steve Davis
Steve Davis (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a Sports commentator, commentator, musician, DJ, and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he rea ...
and seemed to have built himself an unassailable 13–8 lead, but a miss on a straightforward off its during the first of the final session allowed Davis to take the frame and eventually win the title.
Thorne later said that he had "hardly looked" at the blue, considering it a "certainty". Thorne was runner-up in four other events that season: the
British Open
The Open Championship, often referred to as The Open or the British Open, is the oldest golf tournament in the world, and one of the most prestigious. Founded in 1860, it was originally held annually at Prestwick Golf Club in Scotland. Later th ...
(losing 7–12 to Davis), the
Scottish Masters
The Scottish Masters, often known by its sponsored names, the Lang's Scottish Masters or the Regal Scottish Masters, was a non-ranking professional snooker tournament held every year from 1981 until 2002, with the exception of 1988.
The tourn ...
(losing 7–9 to
Cliff Thorburn
Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn (born 16 January 1948) is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1980, defeating Alex Hi ...
), the
Irish Masters (losing 5–9 to
Jimmy White
James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won three seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 ...
) and the
Pontins Professional
The Pontins Professional was an invitational professional non-ranking snooker tournament which ran from 1974 until 2000.
History
Top snooker professionals had regularly supplemented their income from professional events by playing exhibition m ...
(losing 6–9 to
Terry Griffiths
Terence Martin Griffiths (born 16 October 1947) is a Welsh retired professional snooker player and current snooker coach and pundit. In his second professional tournament, he became world champion when he won the 1979 World Snooker Champion ...
).
He reached the quarter-finals of the
World Snooker Championship
The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the wealthiest, with total prize money in 2022 of £2,395,000, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927 Wor ...
in
1982
Events January
* January 1 – In Malaysia and Singapore, clocks are adjusted to the same time zone, UTC+8 (GMT+8.00).
* January 13 – Air Florida Flight 90 crashes shortly after takeoff into the 14th Street bridges, 14th Street Bridge in ...
and
1986
The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles.
**Spain and Portugal ente ...
.
Thorne won the
1986 Hong Kong Masters by 8–3 over
Dennis Taylor
Dennis Taylor (born 19 January 1949) is a Northern Irish retired professional snooker player and current commentator. He is best known for winning the 1985 World Snooker Championship, where he defeated the defending champion Steve Davis in a ...
in the final with
century break
In snooker, a century break (also century, sometimes called a ton) is a of 100 points or more, compiled in one to the table. A century break requires potting at least 25 consecutive balls, and the ability to score centuries is regarded as a m ...
s of 102 and 106, and then defeated Davis 10–9 to claim the
1986 Matchroom Professional Championship.
He peaked at No. 7 in the world rankings in the mid-1980s, while also battling a serious gambling problem.
Thorne began gambling when he frequented a billiard hall in central Leicester from the age of 16. In one incident, Thorne bet £38,000 on a match involving
John Parrott
John Stephen Parrott, (born 11 May 1964) is an English former professional snooker player and television personality. He was a familiar face on the professional snooker circuit during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and remained within ...
, betting that Parrott would lose as he had lost his personal
cue and had to use one supplied by the venue. Much to Thorne's dismay, not least because he was actually commentating on the match, Parrott recovered from a slow start to win, only worsening Thorne's debts.
In an interview with ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' newspaper in 2004, Thorne admitted to placing bets of up to £20,000 on horses.
Thorne's bald head made him instantly recognisable and he was often referred to as the "
Homer Simpson
Homer Jay Simpson is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the American animated sitcom ''The Simpsons''. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared, along with the rest of his family, in ''The Tracey Ullman Show'' short "G ...
of Snooker".
He first began commentating for the BBC during the 1980s, and he continued to work on the BBC's networked snooker coverage until he was dropped from the corporation's broadcast team after the
2017–18 season.
He also had stints commentating on snooker for Sky and ITV.
Thorne continued to commentate for BBC Wales on their coverage of the
Welsh Open in February each year.
Alongside other
Matchroom
Matchroom Sport is a sporting event promotions company founded by English entrepreneur Barry Hearn and run by Hearn and his son Eddie Hearn. It first came to attention in the sports of snooker and boxing and is also involved in pool, bowling, go ...
professionals, Thorne featured in the popular song "
Snooker Loopy
"Snooker Loopy" is a humorous song which was released as a single in May 1986, and entered the UK Singles Chart, reaching #6. It was written and performed by Chas & Dave and featured snooker players Steve Davis, Dennis Taylor, Willie Thorne, Ter ...
", written and performed by
Chas & Dave
Chas & Dave (often billed as Chas 'n' Dave) were a British pop rock duo, formed in London by Chas Hodges and Dave Peacock. Hodges died in 2018.
They were most notable as creators and performers of a musical style labelled ''rockney'' (a port ...
.
In the verse which begins "but old Willie Thorne, his hair's all gorn", Thorne's cameo line was "Perhaps I ought to chalk it", in reference to his gleaming head distracting his opponents. Thorne also appeared in the "Romford Rap" video with the rest of the "Matchroom Mob".
[
Thorne was described as a skilled break-builder and possibly the "missing link" between old-school percentage play and the current aggressive game. He took 19 seasons to record 100 competitive century breaks. He was only the third player to achieve this feat and achieved a ]maximum break
A maximum break (also known as a maximum, a 147, or orally, a one-four-seven) is the highest possible in a single of snooker. A player compiles a maximum break by potting all 15 with 15 for 120 points, followed by all six for a further 27 ...
at the 1987 UK Championship. Thorne claimed to have made almost 200 maximum breaks, and was known as "Mr Maximum". Thorne won the World Seniors Masters in 2000, beating Cliff Thorburn
Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn (born 16 January 1948) is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1980, defeating Alex Hi ...
in the final.
After retiring from the game in 2001, Thorne did not play another match for sixteen years; however, he returned to action in 2017 in the World Seniors Championship
The World Seniors Championship is an invitational seniors snooker tournament which has been played under different formats. As of 2020 the minimum age is 40, but it was 45 in 2011 and 2012.
History
The event was first held in 1991 with 16 pla ...
, where he lost 1–3 in the first round to Aiden Owens. The World Seniors Tour
The World Seniors Tour is the professional snooker tour for senior players aged 40 and over, running in parallel to the main World Snooker Tour. Founded in 2017 by Snooker Legends, it has been run since 2018 by World Seniors Snooker, a subsidiary ...
was formed in the same year, but Thorne did not enter any events that season. He began his comeback in 2019 at the Seniors Irish Masters, where he faced Jimmy White
James Warren White (born 2 May 1962) is an English professional snooker player who has won three seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 ...
in his first match in the quarter-finals, losing 0–3, and the World Seniors Championship
The World Seniors Championship is an invitational seniors snooker tournament which has been played under different formats. As of 2020 the minimum age is 40, but it was 45 in 2011 and 2012.
History
The event was first held in 1991 with 16 pla ...
, where he lost by the same scoreline in the first round to Darren Morgan
Darren Morgan (born 3 May 1966) is a Welsh former professional snooker player who now competes as an amateur.
Morgan won the World Amateur Championship in 1987 and played on the professional main tour from 1988 until 2006. He earned just ov ...
. His next match, in the first round of the 2019 UK Seniors Championship, proved to be his last; drawn against Michael Judge
Michael Judge (born 12 January 1975 in Dublin) is a professional snooker player from the Republic of Ireland. His best performance in a ranking event came in the 2004 Grand Prix, where he reached the semi-finals, and he reached his highest rank ...
, Thorne lost 2–3.
Thorne also held the all-time record in the "Pocket Money" round of the BBC show ''Big Break
''Big Break'' is a British television game show, created by Roger Medcalf, Mike Kemp and Terry Mardell, presented by comedian Jim Davidson and snooker commentator John Virgo, and broadcast on BBC One between 1991 and 2002. Inspired by ITV's '' ...
'', with a score of £540, until it was broken by Tony Knowles' score of £580 in April 1996.
Personal life
Thorne was married to former Miss Great Britain
Miss Great Britain is Britain's longest running beauty contest held annually in Britain since 1945. Owner and CEO John Singh made history crowning his first winner and to this date only the first black Miss Great Britain 1996. Singer and dancer A ...
winner Jill Saxby and lived in Broughton Astley
Broughton Astley is a large village and civil parish located in the Harborough District, Harborough district of Leicestershire, England. It is situated in the south of Leicestershire, about east of Hinckley, about from the centre of Leiceste ...
. He was previously married to Fiona Walker, with whom he had twin sons and a daughter. From 1982, he ran the Willie Thorne Snooker Centre club in Leicester
Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city l ...
, converted from a former motor taxation office, where Mark Selby
Mark Anthony Selby (born 19 June 1983) is an English professional snooker player, who is a four-time World Snooker Champion. Ranked world number one on multiple occasions, he has won a total of 21 ranking titles, placing him eighth on the ...
used to compete in junior tournaments. In 2004, Thorne and writer Derek Marsden co-authored his first autobiography, ''Double or Quits''. His second autobiography, ''Taking a Punt on My Life'', was published in 2011.
In 2007, Thorne competed in Series 5 of ''Strictly Come Dancing
''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...
'' with professional dance partner Erin Boag
Erin Boag (born 17 March 1975) is a professional ballroom dancer. She has danced from the age of three, originally starting ballet and later moving into ballroom dance, ballroom, Latin dance, Latin and Jazz dance, jazz. Born in Auckland, New Zeal ...
. They were voted off in the third week. He was friends with footballer Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has p ...
, which was the subject of the VHS production, ''Best of Friends – The Official Story of Gary Lineker & Willie Thorne''. In 1985, Lineker was best man at Thorne's wedding. Thorne was a lifelong fan of Leicester City
Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands.
The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...
.
Illness and death
In June 2015, Thorne was diagnosed with prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that sur ...
after a psychiatrist ordered routine blood tests and told doctors about the diagnosis and Thorne began treatment.
Thorne tweeted
Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...
on 18 March 2020 that he had been diagnosed with leukaemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ' ...
. On 16 June 2020, he was placed in an induced coma
An induced comaalso known as a medically induced coma (MIC), barbiturate-induced coma, or drug-induced comais a temporary coma (a deep state of unconsciousness) brought on by a controlled dose of an anesthetic drug, often a barbiturate such as ...
after suffering respiratory failure in hospital in Spain. On 17 June 2020, his carer reported that Thorne had gone into septic shock
Septic shock is a potentially fatal medical condition that occurs when sepsis, which is organ injury or damage in response to infection, leads to dangerously low blood pressure and abnormalities in cellular metabolism. The Third International Con ...
, was not responding to treatment, and died after his life support
Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform basic ...
was withdrawn, aged 66.
Performance and rankings timeline
Career finals
Ranking finals: 3 (1 title)
Non-ranking finals: 15 (6 titles)
Pro-am finals: 2 (1 title)
Team finals: 1
Amateur finals: 4 (2 titles)
References
Further reading
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorne, Willie
1954 births
2020 deaths
Deaths from cancer in Spain
Deaths from leukemia
English pool players
English snooker players
English sports broadcasters
People from Broughton Astley
Sportspeople from Leicester
English expatriate sportspeople in Spain
Snooker writers and broadcasters