White Beats Burden In Crucible Final
Jimmy White won the LLP Solicitors World Seniors Championship for the fourth time, beating Alfie Burden 5-3 in the final at the Crucible.
Victory caps off a fantastic season for White in which he reached the last 16 of two ranking events as well as the last 32 of the UK Championship, earning enough ranking points to book two more years on the professional tour. To finish the campaign with a trophy on snooker’s most famous stage in Sheffield is a tremendous reward for the 61-year-old whose enthusiasm for snooker seems to get stronger as time goes on.
After knocking out Philip Williams and Adrian Ridley to reach the semi-finals, White saw off Tony Drago 4-1 before getting the better of close friend Burden. Over his four matches, the Londoner made breaks of 70, 76, 103, 80, 84, 64, 74, 56, 68, 62, 63, 55 and 84.
He looked set for a comfortable night in the final when he led 4-1, before Burden fought back by taking frame six. In the seventh, Burden trapped his opponent in a tough snooker behind the black after potting the last red, and gained enough penalty points to close to 4-3. In frame eight, White made 31 before playing safe, then capitalised on a loose safety from Burden to get back among the balls, and finished superbly with a break of 84 to secure the title which he had previously won in 2010, 2019 and 2020.
“I love the game, it’s fascinating,” said White, who may earn a place in the Champion of Champions in November. “Sometimes I can play good stuff and beat anyone, sometime I fall over the line. We both struggled to control the cue ball tonight, I got a bit ‘jabby.’ But I still have the motivation and sometimes you have to do what Mark Selby does and win when playing badly. I’m delighted.
“My thanks go to the sponsors LLP Solicitors, to Jason Ferguson and Jason Francis and everyone behind the event which gets bigger every year, and thanks to the fans for their support.”
Burden said: “If I was going to lose to anyone I would want it to be Jimmy. I enjoyed every moment of playing at the Crucible.”