Jimmy White launched snooker ball off table in explosion of rage at World Championship

 Jimmy 'Whirlwind' White lost control in one World Snooker Championship session.

Jimmy White was furious at his miss on the black against Matthew Stevens

The pressure cooker environment of the World Snooker Championship can bring out the worst in a player. And that is exactly what happened to six-time Crucible finalist Jimmy White during his trip to Sheffield in 2002.

The 62-year-old, who has racked up 10 ranking titles during the course of a glittering professional career, was behind against Matthew Stevens when things spun out of control in their second-round clash. After a sequence of missed opportunities, White spurned what should have been a routine pot on the black. And with the frame still all to play for, he whalloped the moving cue ball back into the black as both balls flew off the table.

The Londoner instantly conceded the frame, putting him 6-2 down, and shook Stevens' hand before scrambling backstage. Pundit and former world champion Ken Doherty was in disbelief.

"I've never seen anything like that," said the Irishman. "I remember Patsy Fagan, I think, did the same when a white was going in he hit the ball on the run but it's very uncharacteristic for Jimmy."

White returned the next day to continue the match and made it clear that he regretted his actions. He said: "I would like to apologise for the way I reacted at the end of the first session of my second round match against Matthew Stevens. It was caused by sheer frustration and was completely out of character. I can't believe what I did. I don't even do that in practice."

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White went on to lose the match 13-3 as his Crucible campaign ended for another year. That incident aside, the Tooting-born cueist had built a reputation as a player with impeccable table manners and an aversion to moaning.

His 2002 appearance was amongst a string of first and second-round exits at the World Snooker Championship, with the peak of his career coming in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Incredibly, White made five consecutive Crucible finals between 1990 and 1994, and lost on each occasion.

White is still an active player in his sixties, and he went out in the second round of World Championship qualifying earlier this month. The veteran believes that World Snooker Tour chairman Barry Hearn will continue to give him chances to be involved in top-level matches.

He explained: "Barry did say to me, what I’ve done for the game, as long as I keep playing in all of the events, then I’ll keep getting the wildcard. I enjoy practicing, enjoy doing exhibitions, enjoy entertaining. I still make 147s and now and again I have a little buzz where I can beat anybody."