White disappoints his legion again

By Geet Sethi

SHEFFIELD, APRIL 27. There are few players anywhere in the world who command such unconditional emotional support from the public. For the past 20 years, his army of spectators at the Crucible have cheered him lustily every time he re-enters the playing arena and the legion of fans and general public have prayed for that one elusive world title for him.

Yet, Jimmy White, arguably the most talented cueist and inarguably the most loved snooker player, has let them down every time. Six times he flirted with destiny by reaching the final - five of these in successive years. Once, in 1994 all he required was a routine black and the formality of potting three open reds in the deciding frame of his best of 35 frame final against Stephen Hendry.

He missed the black which he would have potted a hundred times and left the world weeping in sorrow and sympathy. This year, there was some justification for his odds for the title being slashed from 85-1 to 12-1. After all, Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan - both in his half of the draw - were unexpectedly eliminated in their respective opening matches.

For two weeks, his supporters lived in the unrealistic expectations that at last, this may be his year. Yet, sport is ruthless. Emotional sentimentality has no place in sport. The mercurial White, who managed to reach his 15th quarterfinal here with victories over Billy Snaddon and Stuart Bingham, is a shadow of what he was, unable to unleash his trademark adventure and drama on the table. Yet, in the opening three frames of his contest against Mathew Stevens he gave brief indications of rediscovering the magic, with which he had enthralled millions. He led 2-1 with two fluent runs of 84 and 69.

But 17 frames later, he was on his way back to London a dejected 7-13 loser, totally outclassed by a 22-year-old Welshman 16 years his junior. To be fair, Stevens is one of the most improved cueists on the circuit, who has provided overwhelming proof of his talent and potential in the last 18 months. By virtue of victories in the Regal Masters and Wembley Masters this season and appearing in the final of the UK Championship for the last two years, he has established himself as a serious contender for the title in the this years edition of the Embassy World snooker championship.

The manner in which he reached the semifinal only reconfirms his authentic genius. First he outclassed Malta's Tony Drago 10-3, then he crushed Scotland's Alan McManus 13-4 and subsequently shattered the hopes of a nation (UK) by overcoming one of the great legends of the game.

Last visit likely

In theory, this could be White's last visit to the Crucible. His poor form over the years - he won his last title eight years ago - has ensured that he will be displaced from the elite group of top 16 players, who enjoy the privilege of getting a direct seeding into the last 32 of the world championship. And the form exhibited in the recent past suggests that he may not be able survive a qualifying round which enables a player outside of the top 16 to qualify for the last 32 stage featured at the Crucible Theatre.

There were just too many unforced errors from the 38- year-old White and except for the odd flash, his play lacked precision. An easy missed red in into the middle pocket in the 11th epitomised the lack of accuracy in his game and supplemented with unconvincing safety tactics, it was not surprising to see White trail 5-11 at the conclusion of the second session. He provided perfunctory resistance in the final session winning two of the four frames to reduce the margin of his impending defeat. Stevens in the final analysis out-performed him in every department of the game.

The John Higgins-Mark Williams semifinal promises to throw up the best snooker of the tournament. On Wednesday, Williams had exhibited remarkable efficiency and break building in reaching the last four stage with an effortless 13-5 victory over Republic of Ireland's Fergal O'Brien. But his fluency and nonchalant attitude paled when compared to the clinical and composed display by Higgins, who annihilated Anthony Hamilton 13- 3 with a session to spare.

Enroute, the world No. 1 compiled four centuries - including an hat-trick - and created a new world championship record for the total number of points compiled without answer. During his conjuration the 25-year-old Scot accumulated an unprecedented 485 unanswered points. The previous record was 463 compiled by Joe Perry against Tony Meo during the qualifying rounds of the 1997 world championship, and was only two points less than the record for all tournaments, set by Stephen Hendry against White in the 1996 Benson & Hedges Masters.

Higgins is already in line to receive œ13,200 (two thirds of œ20,000) for the two breaks of 141 which he fashioned in the opening two matches. The third was constructed by Joe Swail in his opening round against Paul Hunter.

The semifinal promises rich fare. Williams has undoubtedly enjoyed the most successful season and is ensured of the No. 1 spot in next year's ranking list. Higgins form has gradually improved to a point where he is perhaps playing the best snooker of his career. The outcome is anybody's guess.

The other semifinal between Mathew Stevens and Ireland's Joe Swail is decidedly tilted in favour of the Welshman, who has disdainfully discarded of his opponents with consummate ease. Swail, who admits to having played the best game of his life, will need to improve further if he needs to overcome Stevens' challenge.

Semi-final lineup: Mathew Stephens v Joe Swail; Mark Williams v John Higgins.

lThe results (quarterfinals): Mathew Stevens bt Jimmy White 13-7. 75-32, 0-84 (84), 1- 70 (69), 90 (90)-0, 109 (109)-0, 12-65 (50), 84 (60)-16, 74 (63)- 8, 17-89, 71-1, 107 (87)-17, 53-0, 64 (56)- 43, 33-88 (60), 73 (73)-0, 70-44, 14-68, 73 (54)-47, 29-63, 50-8.

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