'A dream come true' – Lee Walker hits back to deny Jimmy White in World Seniors final
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ByEurosport
Updated 09/05/2022 at 03:41 GMT
Jimmy White hit breaks of 138 and 132 in reaching the World Seniors final, but the heavy scoring dried up at the wrong time as he lost 5-4 to Lee Walker after leading 4-2 at the Crucible. 'The Whirlwind' was chasing a record fourth title in the event, but must wait another year after Walker's spirited recovery in Sheffield.
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Jimmy 'Whirlwind' White must wait another year to claim a fourth World Seniors snooker title after losing 5-4 to Lee Walker in a tense final on Sunday night.
The six-time Crucible runner-up opened with a break of 64 to lead 1-0 in Sheffield before scrapping his way to a 4-2 advantage despite toiling to emulate his heavy scoring form that saw him reach the showpiece match earlier in the day.
After rolling in breaks of 138, 74, 71 and 53 in a 4-1 win against Rory McLeod on Saturday, White also made a 62 to go with his 132 in a semi-final whitewash of UK Seniors holder Peter Lines, who had dumped 1995 world finalist Nigel Bond 4-1 to progress to the last four.
White was restricted to only six points in the closing three frames as 46-year-old Walker – the coach and close friend of three-time world champion Mark Williams – followed up an earlier 72 with match-winning breaks of 79 and 83 to complete a deserved triumph that he described as his "career highlight".
"It's a dream come true," he said. "There is a lot of pressure out there. I wanted to win, Jimmy wanted to win. It is a title playing at the Crucible.
"Everybody thinks it is easy when they see Ronnie (O'Sullivan), John Higgins and Mark Williams playing. They don't miss anything, but this game is not that easy.
"I'm absolutely over the moon," added Walker, who enjoyed victories over defending champion David Lilley, Ken Doherty, Stephen Hendry and Tony Knowles during his run to the title that sees him qualify for the Champion of Champions tournament next season.
"I think I’m too old to play two matches in one day!," said White. "He played much better than me today. You can’t take anything away from Lee; his safety was excellent, he took his chances. I’m delighted for him.”
White had won the event in 2010, 2019 and 2020, but lost last year's final 5-3 to Lilley.
Lilley looked on course for a repeat clash against White after breaks of 58, 57 and 50 saw him move 3-0 clear against Walker, but the former Gibraltar Open semi-finalist reeled off the next four frames including a closing knock of 73 to complete a great escape.
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