We were all recently stunned to hear the terrible news regarding the passing of Mr Maximum, Willie Thorne. As we are all quite disheartened by this event, I thought we could reminisce upon one of his great matches, which requires us to roll back to 1986; where experienced Thorne had one of his toughest matches in Round 1 of the World Championship against debutant, Stephen Hendry.
It’s hard to believe Hendry as a Crucible debutant; it just doesn’t sound right. But the King of the Crucible had to be introduced to the tournament at some point. At this point in time, he was the youngest entrant to compete at the WSC, aged 17 years old. And his opponent? Seasoned and in-form Thorne. Thorne had just come off a run of two finals against Steve Davis, in the UK Championship and British Open. Probably not Hendry’s first choice of opponent, right?
Actually, Hendry had Thorne on the ropes straight off the bat. Hendry developed a 3-1 lead before Thorne was able to tough it out and overturn this deficit to win the opening session 5-4. This was partly helped by a fantastical fluke on the green in the final frame of the session – a frame which could have gone either way. However, Hendry wasn’t going without a fight.
It was a closely fought battle for the remainder of the evening with neither player gaining a two frame lead until the very end (with the exception of the first frame of the evening session). Despite Hendry being in his infancy and not coming into his century-making reputation just yet, it was clearly evident what was to come from his excellent long pots and skill at that young age. Although, it was a match winning clear-up from Thorne in the final frame in which Hendry was trying to force a decider that allowed Mr Maximum to win the match 10-8.
While it may not be an Instant Classic match for most, what happened at the end was the personal highlight, and what made me garner a new found appreciation for WT. As Thorne and Hendry shook hands, Thorne was sincerely applauding Hendry along with the rest of the crowd as he exited the arena. It was such an incredible show of respect from Thorne to someone who gave him such a tough match – which he acknowledged in the post-match interview – and a person who he suspected would be the future champion he then turned into. It’s a gesture you don’t see at all unless in the closing ceremony of a finals where players are obligated to applaud one another, which is what made this moment very special.
Thanks Willie for your contributions to snooker, both on and off the table. Whilst we are all feeling a little loopy at the news of your passing, we know you’re chalking it up with the greats in another place.
Like this Short? Click here to read: Alex Higgins: The 69 Break – Instant Classic
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