As a player Jimmy White has played all of snooker’s greats.
In an incredible career that has spanned six decades, White has played against all of the sport’s big guns From Steve Davis to Stephen Hendry, and from Ronnie O’Sullivan to Judd Trump and current world champion Kyren Wilson. But he says the sheer grit and tactical knowledge of one man stands him apart from the rest – and it isn’t any of the names mentioned.
The Whirlwind memorably reached his first World Championship final in 1984 losing out to Steve Davis 18-16, before going on to reach five consecutive finals from 1990-1994. In four of them he would meet Scottish hero Hendry, and he left empty-handed each time. His last ranking event title may have came back in 2004 at the Players’ Championship, but White remains a regular in qualifying events – and has been a huge hit on the senior tour as well as working for Eurosport as a pundit.
And speaking on the channel in the build-up to the Welsh Open final between Mark Selby and Scot Stephen Maguire, he pinpointed four time world champ Selby as the toughest player in the game – eclipsing even the legendary Steve Davis. White said: “Mark is as hard as nails. He’s a nice fella, he shakes everyone’s hand when he’s playing them. He’s a total gentleman, but make no mistake he is ruthless on the snooker table. He’s probably the toughest.
“I grew up with Steve Davis seeing how good tactically he was. Mark has taken the tactical side to a different level, he can tie people up in noughts. But he enjoys getting in to score as well.”
Fellow Eurosport pundit Neal Foulds agreed, adding: “His conversion rate is absolutely fantastic as well, lets not forget that. In the last 18 finals he’s lost three, one was the Shootout.
“He’s won 15 finals, his conversion rate for the big occasions is fantastic.”
The BBC’s Dominic Dale labelled Selby, “one of the greatest tactical players we’ve ever seen in snooker.” Ronnie O’Sullivan however believes that the Jester from Leicester still has a way to go to be compared to the all-time greats, in 2023 the Rocket told Eurosport: “For me, I still think (Stephen) Hendry is the greatest of all time, followed by (Steve) Davis. Hendry was just determined to win as many tournaments as he could.
“Other people have a different mindset. I’m not sure what Mark Selby’s mindset is. If he’s hellbent on getting eight or nine and that’s what drives him, then great. But that would scare me and make me not ever want to pick up a cue again if I set myself a target like that. But as I said, everyone’s different.”