Willie Thorne

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Willie Thorne

Born	4 March 1954
Nationality	English
Professional	1975 - 2000
Highest ranking	#7 (1984/84, 1986/87)
Highest break	147 (UK Championship 1987)
Tournament wins
Ranking events	1

William "Willie" Joseph Thorne (born 4 March 1954 in Leicester) is a former English professional snooker player and now a commentator. Despite never reaching his full potential, Thorne is widely regarded as one of the game's most natural talents, and is one of only a handful of players to compile over 150 century breaks throughout his career, an impressive feat considering that Thorne played out much of his career on tables with slower and thicker cloths than those of today, meaning that they were less suited for big breaks.

A brilliant junior, Thorne became national under-16 champion at both snooker and billiards in 1970. He never really converted this early promise into professional success, however, only ever winning one ranking tournament (the Mercantile Credit Classic in 1985). The same year, he reached the UK Championship final against the then dominant Steve Davis, and seemed to have built himself an unassailable lead. But a dreadful miss on a straightforward blue off its spot during the first frame of the final session seemed to shatter his confidence. Davis took the frame and eventually won the final with some ease. Thorne later said that he had hardly looked at the blue, considering it a certainty. He reached the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship in 1982 and 1986.

It's arguable that his career never really recovered from this defeat. He peaked at number seven in the world rankings in the mid-1980s, whilst also battling a serious gambling problem. In one famous incident, Thorne bet £38,000 on a match involving John Parrott, betting that Parrott would lose as he had lost his cue and had to use one at random from the rack. Much to Thorne's dismay (not least due to the fact that he was actually commentating on the match), Parrott recovered from a slow start to win, only worsening Thorne's crippling debts. Also, in an interview with the Guardian Newspaper in 2004, Thorne admitted to placing bets worth up to £20,000 on one horse. He fell into serious debt and depression, but thankfully for the snooker world he has beaten both of these problems. Willie and his family have borne the cost of his gambling addiction, and he was forced to sell off his snooker club in Leicester to cover a huge loss at cards.

Thorne's bald head makes him instantly recognisable and he is often referred to as the 'Homer Simpson of Snooker', and he has become a popular senior character in the game, commentating on snooker for television on the BBC and Sky Sports. Alongside other Matchroom professionals, Thorne featured in the popular song "Snooker Loopy", written and performed by Chas & Dave. In the verse which begins "Willie Thorne, his hair's all gorne", Willie's cameo line was "Perhaps I ought to chalk it", in reference to his glaring crown putting off his opponents.

He is often known as "Mr. Maximum" due to the fact that he has hit well over 200 147 breaks in practice, though only one in tournament play. Alex Higgins recently claimed in an audio interview that the size of the pockets on Thorne's snooker table were so huge that if you had been walking past them, you would have fallen in! Notwithstanding this comment, Thorne was known as a fantastic break-builder and possibly the "missing link" between old-school percentage play and the current attacking potting game. His commentary is generally well-received, incisive and, on occasions, humorous.

Willie Thorne also won the World Seniors Masters in 2000 - beating Cliff Thorburn in the final.