By Elliott West
Introduction
Willie Thorne was well known for setting records, being one of the first players to compile one hundred century breaks and claims he made over two hundred maximum breaks, largely in practice. Two documented maximum breaks being one after breaking both his legs in a go-karting accident in 1982 and Willie went on to make a 147 in an exhibition at his Leicester club. The second was at the 1987 Tennent’s UK Championship when WT was playing Tommy Murphy in the last 32 stage. Sadly this match was not televised but Thorne sealed his achievement with a 9-4 victory over his opponent.
The First Glimpse of Magic
In 1977, Thorne was playing a match against Brian Cakebread at Osbourne’s club in Leicester. Then only 22 and already a professional, Willie struck gold for the first time and compiled a 147 break for the first time. This feat was documented in the January, 1977 edition of ‘Snooker Scene’, where Thorne recounted the achievement in his own words and the edition was accompanied by diagrams of the display. Here’s an account of the maximum break in WT’s own words:
“After potting the twelfth red, I had the choice of moving red no 1 or playing for red no 2 but I decided to pot the black and dislodge to a better position over the middle pocket. If I had missed the kiss I would have still been able to pot red no 2 in the top pocket” (see diagram 1).
“As shown in diagram 1, I nudged the red perfectly over the middle pocket”.
“After potting red no 1 in the centre pocket and stunning down for the black, the white again landed so that I had a choice of shots. This is where I think I played the best shot of the break” (see diagram 2).
“Knowing that no 3 red was going to be the most difficult, I played to stun round the angles and finished just off straight, almost perfect for red no 3”.
“If I had not quite got on red no 3, I would have been able to use play red no 2 in the top pocket but finishing as I did, I played a forcing shot with a lot of right hand side to again finish on the black” (see diagram 2, shot 2).
“This left me with a straight forward stun behind the fifteenth red (see diagram 3) and then a short screw to finish on a half-ball black which would be almost a natural to play for the yellow” ( see diagram 3, shot 2).
“But in playing the last black, I under-hit the white and failed to finish as I would have liked on the yellow” (diagram 4, shot 1). “I had to play the yellow with check side to straighten the white for the green”.
“This in my opinion, was the second best shot I played in the break. I then played an easy half ball green to finish perfect on the brown but this is where disaster nearly struck”.
“In my previous attempts to complete the maximum I have either been a little unfortunate or have twitched – which is what I did on the brown as I failed to gain good position on the blue” (see diagram 5).
“I was attempting to play a stun into the side cushion and onto the blue but as shown, I left myself a nasty half-ball blue which I had to play with check side to finish on the pink” (diagram 5, shot 2).
“After the good blue, I was left with a very easy pink but with the pressure on, I hit the pink a little too hard but still managed to slightly cut the black back into the pocket to record my first magical 147”.
Summary
Willie Thorne’s account of his 147, shows not only how good a player he was but what is just as impressive, is how Thorne can remember compiling the break in such a meticulous fashion. Willie was a break-builder and knew how to stun and screw the cue ball with such precision that he looked like he had the cue ball on a piece of string. Willie was a much better player than his record reflects and as he freely admitted, he didn’t win more because he didn’t put in the hours of practice required. When in form, WT was unbeatable but sadly his eyes started to fail at the end of his career. A true gentleman off the table and a gritty player on it.
