I’VE HAD A WHIRLWIND 60 YEARS

Jimmy White: I feel 25. The Stones played at my 50th..so I don’t know how I’ll celebrate at the Crucible..but my birthday is every day, really

BY HECTOR NUNNS

JIMMY WHITE remains snooker’s artful dodger even as he turns 60 – and is as excited about a “magic” Crucible final as anyone.

As box office stars Ronnie O’sullivan and Judd Trump battle it out at the Betfred World Championship today White celebrates a milestone birthday.

There were times in the Whirlwind’s more chaotic years of drink, drugs and gambling addictions that reaching such an age might have seemed an achievement.

But then White’s vulnerability and flaws have always been a part of his make-up, as much as a cheeky charm – and the six lost world finals that left millions of fans almost more devastated than him.

Those defeats denying White a world title might have seen lesser men consumed by bitterness. But an enduring love for snooker snuffed out that possibility.

And as he reflected at the iconic Sheffield theatre on his life and times, the boyish enthusiasm spilled out about this year’s showpiece between two players cut from the same showman cloth.

White, still on the main tour 42 years, said: “You have Judd Trump the shot-maker and you’ve Ronnie O’sullivan at his pure best making the game look so easy.”

He went on: “I don’t feel 60 at all – more like 25, I just can’t move any more. I had the Rolling Stones play at my

50th – not bad for a lad from Tooting – so I don’t know how I’ll top that at the Crucible.

“Seeing Ronnie equal Stephen Hendry’s record of seven world titles would be a treat but my birthday is every day, really.”

It won’t be the first birthday White has had at the Crucible. Hendry ruined one in 1994 with an 18-17 win in the final, after the Londoner missed a black off the spot in the decider. But there were others, one being midafter quarter-final against Steve James. White said: “Steve has the same birthday as me.

“We both went out. He had beaten Hendry that year, I think. Me and him both got paralytic and I had a headache from hell the next day.”

White’s popularity even extended to royalty, with the late Queen Mother reportedly a fan. He added: “I remember when I got my MBE the Queen said to me: ‘Why did they put the snooker on so late at night?’

“Me, just being a cheeky chappie, I said: ‘Why don’t you have a word?’ With that I was quickly ushered away.

“Snooker has been my life and I have no plans to retire, not at all.”

‘Ronnie at his pure best makes the game look so easy’