Willie Thorne diagnosed with leukaemia

Scorpion Sting · 18-03-2020 6:18pm #1

Really sad news. I wish him a speedy recovery.

https://twitter.com/TheWillieThorne/status/1240304955107545089

The Nal · 18-03-2020 6:41pm

Jesus hes had a rough time of it

Joe_ Public · 18-03-2020 6:56pm

Thats tough. Wish him all the best.

waynescales1 · 18-03-2020 9:46pm

Sad, saw him doing coverage of the Welsh Open recently on BBC, seemed in good form.

Arthur Daley · 19-03-2020 1:24am

Yeah, good luck Willie

Arthur Daley · 16-06-2020 3:05pm

Poor auld Willie has gone downhill quickly

Willie Thorne placed into an induced coma in Spain

Former snooker star Willie Thorne has been placed into an induced coma in hospital in Spain after suffering respiratory failure.
The 66-year-old, who announced he was battling leukaemia in March, was taken to hospital last week with a dangerously low blood pressure.
A GoFundMe page set up to help pay for Thorne's treatment had surpassed the £17,000 mark by Tuesday lunchtime.
Thorne's carer Julie O'Neill wrote on the GoFundMe page: "The doctor called me yesterday to inform me that on Sunday Willie went into respiratory failure and he is now in an induced coma and mechanical ventilation.
"They are treating him with three different antibiotics for three types of infections, which appear to be consuming him at this time.

"We are all hoping that the treatments the hospital are giving him while in this induced coma will help to improve his overall condition and at some point enable him to breath on his own and be brought out of this coma."

Thorne reached two World Championship quarter-finals and won his only ranking title, the Mercantile Credit Classic, in 1982.
He starred as part of snooker's 'Matchroom Mob' and went on to become a BBC commentator and appear on the 2007 version of Strictly Come Dancing.
Thorne later battled bankruptcy after admitting he had borrowed up to £1m in order to feed his gambling addiction.

https://www.rte.ie/sport/snooker/2020/0616/1147780-willie-thorne-placed-into-an-induced-coma-in-spain/

zuutroy · 16-06-2020 8:15pm

For all the fame and good times he's had a tough old life.

Arthur Daley · 17-06-2020 8:46am

It has been announced that Willie has died. RIP

y0ssar1an22 · 17-06-2020 8:53am

RIP Willie Thorne. Condolences to friends and family.

Never really watched him play, knew him more as a commentator.

El_Duderino 09 · 17-06-2020 9:11am

Ah poor guy. RIP, Willie and best wishes to his family.

Chicoso · 17-06-2020 9:14am

Rip Mr Maximum

Joe_ Public · 17-06-2020 9:20am

Was a fine player. Under achieved but nice to watch, laconic style, making it look easy. Himself and brother did a lot for snooker in Leicester. Very sad news.

Mysterypunter · 17-06-2020 10:26am

Sad news, a great character of the game RIP Willie

Inviere · 17-06-2020 10:30am

RIP Willie

The Nal · 17-06-2020 10:38am

Rough end for Willie. Let go by the Beeb, broke and separated from his missus all in 2 years.

RIP

Always loved him on commentary.

Gael23 · 17-06-2020 11:07am

RIP
That was very quick in the end

waynescales1 · 17-06-2020 12:39pm

Thorne was working for BBC Wales on the Welsh Open just 4 months ago, looked in great health. Shocked at how fast his health deteriorated.

walshb · 17-06-2020 2:28pm

Sad news. Happy go lucky chap.

Hendry’s tweet I found little odd: “I know he had his faults and weaknesses.”

Not sure why that merits being mentioned..

Marty Bird · 17-06-2020 2:33pm

A great character and commentator RIP

Joe_ Public · 17-06-2020 2:48pm

walshb wrote: »

Sad news. Happy go lucky chap.

Hendry’s tweet I found little odd: “I know he had his faults and weaknesses.”

Not sure why that merits being mentioned..

Willie did have his demons i guess, maybe you could say it's a bit insensitive of hendry to reference it like that but flaws and all, people still held willie in high regard so i think it's fair enough personally.

Scorpion Sting · 17-06-2020 3:54pm

RIP Willie. A great character whose commentary I loved to listen to growing up.

Mad_maxx · 17-06-2020 3:59pm

walshb wrote: »

Sad news. Happy go lucky chap.

Hendry’s tweet I found little odd: “I know he had his faults and weaknesses.”

Not sure why that merits being mentioned..

hendry is known to be a cold fish by anyone who knows the game and its people

The Nal · 17-06-2020 4:03pm

Mark King said something similar

https://twitter.com/markking147/status/1273183661542780930

walshb · 17-06-2020 4:16pm

Joe_ Public wrote: »

Willie did have his demons i guess, maybe you could say it's a bit insensitive of hendry to reference it like that but flaws and all, people still held willie in high regard so i think it's fair enough personally.

Yes, I know

It just seemed like he had to say it. Was of no real need to say it

And really, Thorne is known, but he is not a huge name or anything.....

I was reading all the various tweets and they were to the point and nice and decent....

I guess I could kind of understand it if it was some really really well known person with well known highlighted issues...

The Nal · 17-06-2020 4:21pm

Willie applauding Hendry here at the end was lovely.

Joe_ Public · 17-06-2020 4:34pm

The Nal wrote: »

Willie applauding Hendry here at the end was lovely.

Remember that match so well. How obvious it was that we were witnessing the arrival of a new star. Nice gesture at the end and always good to hear Ted and John Spencer on comms.

Mr.Nice Guy · 17-06-2020 5:25pm

Sad to hear that. Enjoyed listening to him on commentary.

zuutroy · 17-06-2020 7:09pm

The Nal wrote: »

Mark King said something similar

https://twitter.com/markking147/status/1273183661542780930

King strikes me as a bit of a pain. I remember BBC did a RoS tribute before the UK a few years ago with everyone saying nice things, and King used it to gloat about one of the times he beat him.

mdwexford · 17-06-2020 7:39pm

Very sad news.

Met him round the corner from the Crucible at the worlds a few years ago. He was happy to stop for a picture and was very friendly.

walshb · 17-06-2020 8:03pm

zuutroy wrote: »

King strikes me as a bit of a pain. I remember BBC did a RoS tribute before the UK a few years ago with everyone saying nice things, and King used it to gloat about one of the times he beat him.

Yes. Just utterly uncalled for.

Inviere · 18-06-2020 7:24am

One of the funnier memories of Willie...

The Nal · 18-06-2020 9:35am

Thats what got him sacked!

Inviere · 18-06-2020 10:12am

The Nal wrote: »

Thats what got him sacked!

I didn't think it was any single thing that caused the BBC to stop using him, more so a combination of his gambling addiction and a few little gaffs here & there, no?

The Nal · 18-06-2020 10:20am

Inviere wrote: »

I didn't think it was any single thing that caused the BBC to stop using him, more so a combination of his gambling addiction and a few little gaffs here & there, no?

Yeah a combination of things but he said himself he suspected that one was the final nail

Chalk McHugh · 18-06-2020 10:20am

zuutroy wrote: »

King strikes me as a bit of a pain. I remember BBC did a RoS tribute before the UK a few years ago with everyone saying nice things, and King used it to gloat about one of the times he beat him.

Yea King is a bit of a clown. I never liked him. But he did have a gambling problem for a long time. When he won the Northern Ireland Open he mentioned his Dad having to pay some of his debts due to gambling losses and how he's finally knocked it on the head. So he probably knows the battle Willie Thorne went through with that horrible, dangerous addiction more than most.

Anyway, very sad news as Willie was a top man. A part of the snooker family up until recent years. RIP.

Joe_ Public · 18-06-2020 10:29am

The Nal wrote: »

Yeah a combination of things but he said himself he suspected that one was the final nail

I'd agree, there probably is a need to shake things up every now and again and I'd say Willie was always the most vulnerable and swearing incident made it easier for bbc to make that decision. They took Virgo off the uk at same time and he'd had his own sweary thing not long before so maybe not entirely coincidental.

El_Duderino 09 · 18-06-2020 12:28pm

The Nal wrote: »

Willie applauding Hendry here at the end was lovely.

Was Willie born with that hairline? That was him at 32 and it didn't receded much in the next 32 years.

Amazing to see how dead the cushions were in that clip.

FR01 · 18-06-2020 3:29pm

I’d rather remember Willie for the player and person he was than discuss his personal life. It’s been publicised enough.

RIP The Great WT

El_Duderino 09 · 20-06-2020 8:10pm

The Nal wrote: »

Willie applauding Hendry here at the end was lovely.

Just watching the coverage on ITV today and they spoke about Thorne. They said he was the first commentator to call bad shots by players. I watched the first few minutes of this clip and noticed that they didn't mention a couple of howlers. In this clip (2m30s), Willie hits a safety shot and the white doesn't make it back past the blue ball. But the commentators don't even mention it was a poor shot.

Arthur Daley · 22-06-2020 10:59pm

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Was Willie born with that hairline? That was him at 32 and it didn't receded much in the next 32 years.

Amazing to see how dead the cushions were in that clip.

In this review of the 1978 World Championship you can see Willie with plenty of hair, but he was 24 here.

From approx. 12 to 17 mins. It was probably this match that earned Willie a bit of a reputation of suffering from 'clinchers disease'.

He couldn't close out against Eddie Charlton from 12-9 up, and he had Davis on the ropes in the 1985 UK Championship final but failed to finish him off.

He did have some lasting power though, and his career coincided with the take-off in snooker from turning pro in 1975 and this 1978 championship up to 1994 when he was still seeded number 7 at Sheffield, a higher seeding at the time than contemporaries Higgins, Thorburn and Taylor.

gormdubhgorm · 25-06-2020 1:23pm

I was looking up Willie Thorne stuff and came across the following. Showing his sense of humour and snooker knowledge all at once.

zuutroy · 26-06-2020 10:31am

That's amazing. I wonder is there any editing involved there. To be able to make a 147 on demand for a video clip seems to good to be true!

gormdubhgorm · 26-06-2020 10:42am

zuutroy wrote: »

That's amazing. I wonder is there any editing involved there. To be able to make a 147 on demand for a video clip seems to good to be true!

Ah there was if you go to the end of the clip the truth is revealed.
I feel for it though. It shows Thorne's humour.

Willie Thorne diagnosed with leukaemia

Comments