Jimmy White blown away as Ryan Day ends snooker legend’s UK Championship challenge in first round

Jimmy White’s UK Championship dream died before it had time to truly form, as he was sent crashing out in the first round by Ryan Day.

In reaching the first round, White became the oldest player to reach the final stages of the UK Championship since 63-year-old Eddie Charlton in 1993.

White came into the Barbican to a fantastic reception, and it took some time for the crowd to settle.

The Whirlwind, back in the main draw of the UK Championship 41 years on from his debut in the event, settled well by picking off a long red. The cue-ball control was not what it was at his peak in the 1980s and 1990s, and he ran out of position on 29.

Both players coughed up misses, which was a clear indication of the nerves that were bubbling under the surface.

White got a second chance and fashioned a break of 15 courtesy of a host of brilliant pots, but he ran out of position and left the blue on for Day to take the opener.

The second followed a similar theme to the first, with both missing balls and making small contributions.

For the second frame in a row, it boiled down to a battle on the colours. As in the first, White missed the blue and left it on a plate for Day to move two frames to the good.

The third was firmly in the grasp of Day but he missed a simple black off its spot, and White took the chance. It was not an easy table, but he picked off a couple of reds before developing the difficult one on the right cushion with an exquisite cannon. The colours were mopped up as White got on the board, to the delight of the crowd.

White has won a legion of fans with his attacking approach, but sometimes discretion is the better part of valour. After pinching the third, White went for a tough blue into the left middle – running round two cushions. He missed the pot and the British Open champion made him pay with a superb 127 break to take a 3-1 lead into the interval.

It was not clean-kill snooker, but Day extended his lead to 4-1 when taking the frame upon the resumption. White had a squeak, but he missed a pink to left middle when attempting to get on the final red and Day won a safety battle before taking the frame.

The double-kiss is one of the things snooker players dread the most, and White skulked back to his seat after opening the sixth frame with one.

It proved extremely costly, as Day stepped to the table with an easy starter and crafted a superb 105 to move within one of victory.

White had the crowd buzzing in the seventh when potting five reds and five blacks to raise the prospect of a 147. The key shot was the sixth black to split the pack. The black dropped, but the cue ball stuck on a red and to compound the misery a red sneaked out of the cluster and into the right middle.

Undeterred, White got back in with a superb long red to take the frame and keep the match alive.

Day did not get a chance as White dominated the seventh, but after his opponent missed a tough pot the Welshman rose from his chair in the eighth knowing victory was in sight.

He amassed 63 before missing a red to right middle, to ratchet up the tension. Cries of “come on, Jimmy!” were heard at the Barbican, but for possibly for the final time.

White knocked in a glorious long red, but the table was fiendishly difficult and after missing a tough red, he left Day with the chance to wrap up the win.

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