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Willie Thorne diagnosed with leukaemia

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Comments

  • #32
    The Nal
    Registered Users Posts: 12,420 ✭✭✭✭The Nal


    Thats what got him sacked!


  • #33
    Inviere
    Registered Users Posts: 7,457 ✭✭✭Inviere


    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?

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  • #34
    The Nal
    Registered Users Posts: 12,420 ✭✭✭✭The Nal


    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


  • #35
    Chalk McHugh
    Registered Users Posts: 3,534 ✭✭✭Chalk McHugh


    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.


  • #36
    Joe_ Public
    Registered Users Posts: 13,023 ✭✭✭✭Joe_ Public


    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.


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  • #37
    El_Duderino 09
    Registered Users Posts: 19,906 ✭✭✭✭El_Duderino 09


    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.


  • #38
    FR01
    Registered Users Posts: 194 ✭✭FR01


    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


  • #39
    El_Duderino 09
    Registered Users Posts: 19,906 ✭✭✭✭El_Duderino 09


    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.


  • #40
    Arthur Daley
    Registered Users Posts: 4,355 ✭✭✭Arthur Daley


    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.


  • #41
    gormdubhgorm
    Registered Users Posts: 18,200 ✭✭✭✭gormdubhgorm


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

    Guff about stuff, and stuff about guff.



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  • #42
    zuutroy
    Registered Users Posts: 6,854 ✭✭✭zuutroy


    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!


  • #43
    gormdubhgorm
    Registered Users Posts: 18,200 ✭✭✭✭gormdubhgorm


    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.

    Guff about stuff, and stuff about guff.



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