By Elliott West
Introduction
Much has been written about the many Crucible clashes between Stephen Hendry and Jimmy White. With their names in the headlines again as they prepare to meet as this year’s World Championship qualifiers, it is only fitting to pay homage to one of these spectacular encounters.
For the purpose of this piece, let’s cast our minds back to the 1988 World Championship. Here, Hendry and White were drawn to meet in the second round. What ensued, was up there with one of the sporting greats, producing the best from both these sportsmen, a game that was truly memorable and worthy of the final itself.
Eye to Eye
Such was the exquisite potting in this 25 frame match that there was no fewer than 26 breaks in excess of 40; 21 over 50; nine over 70 and three centuries. Such was the interest in this match that the BBC maximised its coverage, showing the final session live on Saturday morning . The match overran and ate into half an hour of Grandstand transmission time but was both the sacrifice, even enthralling Des Lyman in the process.
Hendry made the first move in frame 1 and scored a 78 break. White levelled the score and then took a 3-1 advantage. This trend continued for the Londoner, maintaining his lead to stay two frames ahead 5-3 at the end of the first session.
With a whirring of excitement amongst snooker fans and the media, play recommenced in earnest with Jimmy continuing his good form where he had left off, increasing his lead to 6-3. However the Scot couldn’t be put down for long and turned up the gas in the match, producing some outstanding snooker for someone who was chasing a deficit, winning six frames in succession, including breaks of 125 and 101. White managed to suppress this onslaught of frames by taking the last frame of the day, reducing his arrears to 7-9.
Play resumed on the Saturday morning and the fire was relit in this cauldron of snooker. With the Crucible ignited, a determined Hendry sent the audience to the edge of their seats as the first frame went down to the wire with Stephen winning it on the black. Perhaps this was the tension that the Englishman needed to kick on with White producing some sublime snooker, producing one of his finest displays. Jimmy won four frames in a row with breaks of 62, 50, 78 and 71, putting him back in front with a 11-10 advantage.
With four frames remaining, this was a match that was always going to entertain and one that had a prophecy of going the distance and it did! Both players were playing at the top of their game and if you were a betting person, this was a match that would have been hard to call a winner on this fantastic standard of play by both these sportsmen.
The key to winning this match was getting an opening and whoever did, was guaranteed to make a big break. This happened in frame 22 and the honour fell to Stephen Hendry. Stephen compiled a break of 108, his third century in the match. However Jimmy couldn’t be shaken off and he came back at his opponent, compiling a 64 break to make it 12-11. In a game of ebb and flow, it was inevitable that Hendry would come back again and the audience didn’t have long to wait with Stephen drawing the match again with a 48 break to bring the score line to 12-12.
On a stage where he could hear a pin drop, tension reached fever point as the last frame broke off. White attempted a long red under pressure and sunk it cleanly into the back of the pocket. This gave Jimmy the opportunity he needed and he went on to create the winning break of 86. A match that was sublime and White emerged as the deserved winner, crossing the line with a 13-12 margin.
Summary
This match was one of many where these two giants of snooker met. Hendry was the winner in all the Crucible finals but it always refreshing to remember the encounters that Jimmy won. White played at the top of his game in this meeting and was able to chase his opponent, taking the match to the wire and carving out a victory for Jimmy.
