RIP Willie.
I didn’t care for him much as a commentator but he appeared to be a likeable sort.
66 is no age.
RIP Willie. A victim of evil bookies.
As opposed to the good ones?
Fairly fucked the wife over
https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/willie-thornes-wife-explains-reasons-20997004
@Juhniallio will read this story and nod his head in familiarity
I’d also forgotten about this gem
I never said there were any good ones.
Distribution of prize money in snooker
“The top 20% of snooker players over 23 years have claimed £65,339,628. That’s 95% of the entire earnings”…
Willie was some man for the 147s back in the day when they were hard got.
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What - on exhibitions?
Yeah apparently so. His nickname was mr maximum
Willie was very gifted but suffered from nerves. Think he got the yips eventually.
Yep, he suffered with nerves alright,but a great commentator. He knew the shots players were going to play. Even though he was old school,he really enjoyed lads that could score heavily in one visit out of nowhere. A sad loss. R.I.P. W. Thorne.
He was brilliant and always up for a laugh especially ially on big break with him Davidson and john virgo.
He could be too over critical of shot choice though. He’d never won much so wasn’t in a position to be judgemental. Loved when he’d give Ali Carter criticism though.
That’s why he was good though,as the game changed so did he…he knew the shots the players going to play. And you need that in the modem game,instead of complimenting a good/great shot,he could see the potential of the “said” shot.
I thought he was worst than Taylor and Virgo at predicting possible problems with a shot - such as cannoning a ball on the cushion and running out of position.
He constantly went on about the difference between stunning and screwing into the pack. That’s all he had.
I recall one of his last tournaments where he went on a good break and completely mis-cued on frame ball, the white flying off the table.
In fairness, that was probably some gambling scam
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