Willie Thorne

William Joseph Thorne (4 March 1954Template:Spnd17 June 2020)<ref name="EUROS" /> was an English professional snooker player. He won one ranking title, the 1985 Classic. He also reached the final of the 1985 UK Championship, losing 16–14 to Steve Davis after leading 13–8. He was noted for his break-building, and was among the first players to compile 100 century breaks. He earned the nickname "Mr Maximum".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After retiring as a player, Thorne became a snooker commentator, primarily for the BBC.

Career

Thorne was born on 4 March 1954, at the family home in Anstey, a village located near Leicester, to Bill Thorne, a Desford Colliery miner, and his wife Nancy.<ref name=":4">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="obit"/> He had two brothers.<ref name="obit" /> Thorne was educated at the Thomas Rawlins School in Quorn,<ref name=":4" /> and played multiple sports but excelled the most in snooker.<ref name="obit" /> He began playing snooker while holidaying in Eastbourne at the age of 14.<ref name=":5">Template:Cite book</ref> He left school at age 15 and became an estimator for a glass factory while practising snooker in Loughborough and then Leicester's snooker halls.<ref name="obit" /> Thorne became national Under-16 snooker champion in 1970,<ref name=":4" /> and won three consecutive National Under-19 Billiards Championship titles from 1971 to 1973.<ref name=":5" />

He turned professional in 1975,<ref name="WORSNO" /> but never really converted his early promise into success, only winning one ranking snooker tournament (The Classic in 1985).<ref name="WORSNO">Template:Cite web</ref> The same year, he reached the 1985 UK Championship final against the then dominant Steve Davis and seemed to have built himself an unassailable 13–8 lead, but a miss on a straightforward Template:Cuegloss off its Template:Cuegloss during the first Template:Cuegloss of the final session allowed Davis to take the frame and eventually win the title.<ref name="EUROS" /> Thorne later said that he had "hardly looked" at the blue, considering it a "certainty". Thorne was runner-up in four other events that season: the British Open (losing 7–12 to Davis), the Scottish Masters (losing 7–9 to Cliff Thorburn), the Irish Masters (losing 5–9 to Jimmy White) and the Pontins Professional (losing 6–9 to Terry Griffiths).

He reached the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship in 1982 and 1986.<ref name="PA2020">Template:Cite news</ref> Thorne won the 1986 Hong Kong Masters by 8–3 over Dennis Taylor in the final with century breaks of 102 and 106,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and then defeated Davis 10–9 to claim the 1986 Matchroom Professional Championship.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

He peaked at No. 7 in the world rankings in the mid-1980s, while also battling a serious gambling problem.<ref name=globalsnookercentre>Template:Cite web</ref> Thorne began gambling when he frequented a billiard hall in central Leicester from the age of 16.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In one incident, Thorne bet £38,000 on a match involving John Parrott, betting that Parrott would lose as he had lost his personal cue and had to use one supplied by the venue. Much to Thorne's dismay, not least because he was actually commentating on the match, Parrott recovered from a slow start to win, only worsening Thorne's debts.<ref name=insidepoker>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=guardian>Template:Cite web</ref> In an interview with The Guardian newspaper in 2004, Thorne admitted to placing bets of up to £20,000 on horses.<ref name="guardian"/>

Thorne's bald head made him instantly recognisable and he was often referred to as the "Homer Simpson of Snooker".<ref name=guardian2>Template:Cite web</ref> He first began commentating for the BBC during the 1980s, and he continued to work on the BBC's networked snooker coverage until he was dropped from the corporation's broadcast team after the 2017–18 season.<ref name=":1" /> He also had stints commentating on snooker for Sky and ITV.<ref name=":3" /> Thorne continued to commentate for BBC Wales on their coverage of the Welsh Open in February each year.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Alongside other Matchroom professionals, Thorne featured in the popular song "Snooker Loopy", written and performed by Chas & Dave.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> In the verse which begins "but old Willie Thorne, his hair's all gorn", Thorne's cameo line was "Perhaps I ought to chalk it", in reference to his gleaming head distracting his opponents. Thorne also appeared in the "Romford Rap" video with the rest of the "Matchroom Mob".<ref name=PA2020/>

Thorne was described as a skilled break-builder and possibly the "missing link" between old-school percentage play and the current aggressive Template:Cuegloss game. He took 19 seasons to record 100 competitive century breaks.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was only the third player to achieve this feat and achieved a maximum break at the 1987 UK Championship.<ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref> Thorne claimed to have made almost 200 maximum breaks, and was known as "Mr Maximum".<ref name="obit">Template:Cite web</ref> Thorne won the World Seniors Masters in 2000, beating Cliff Thorburn in the final.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite news</ref>

After retiring from the game in 2001,<ref name=":3" /> Thorne did not play another match for sixteen years; however, he returned to action in 2017 in the World Seniors Championship, where he lost 1–3 in the first round to Aiden Owens. The World Seniors Tour was formed in the same year, but Thorne did not enter any events that season. He began his comeback in 2019 at the Seniors Irish Masters, where he faced Jimmy White in his first match in the quarter-finals, losing 0–3, and the World Seniors Championship, where he lost by the same scoreline in the first round to Darren Morgan. His next match, in the first round of the 2019 UK Seniors Championship, proved to be his last; drawn against Michael Judge, Thorne lost 2–3.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Thorne also held the all-time record in the "Pocket Money" round of the BBC show Big Break, with a score of £540,<ref>Archived at GhostarchiveTemplate:Cbignore and the Wayback MachineTemplate:Cbignore: Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> until it was broken by Tony Knowles' score of £580 in April 1996.

Personal life

Thorne was married to former Miss Great Britain winner Jill Saxby<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and lived in Broughton Astley.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was previously married to Fiona Walker, with whom he had twin sons and a daughter.<ref name="obit"/> From 1982, he ran the Willie Thorne Snooker Centre club in Leicester, converted from a former motor taxation office,<ref name=":5" /> where Mark Selby used to compete in junior tournaments.<ref name="Player2011">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2004, Thorne and writer Derek Marsden co-authored his first autobiography, Double or Quits.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> His second autobiography, Taking a Punt on My Life, was published in 2011.<ref name=":4" />

In 2007, Thorne competed in Series 5 of Strictly Come Dancing with professional dance partner Erin Boag. They were voted off in the third week.<ref name="EUROS">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="PA2020" /> He was friends with footballer Gary Lineker,<ref name=":2" /> which was the subject of the VHS production, Best of Friends – The Official Story of Gary Lineker & Willie Thorne.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1985, Lineker was best man at Thorne's wedding.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Thorne was a lifelong fan of Leicester City.

Illness and death

In June 2015, Thorne was diagnosed with prostate cancer after a psychiatrist ordered routine blood tests. After diagnosis, Thorne began treatment.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Thorne tweeted on 18 March 2020 that he had been diagnosed with leukaemia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On 16 June 2020, he was placed in an induced coma after suffering respiratory failure in hospital in Spain.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The following day, his carer reported that Thorne had gone into septic shock, was not responding to treatment, and died after his life support was withdrawn, aged 66.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1974/ 75	1975/ 76	1976/ 77	1977/ 78	1978/ 79	1979/ 80	1980/ 81	1981/ 82	1982/ 83	1983/ 84	1984/ 85	1985/ 86	1986/ 87	1987/ 88	1988/ 89	1989/ 90	1990/ 91	1991/ 92	1992/ 93	1993/ 94	1994/ 95	1995/ 96	1996/ 97	1997/ 98	1998/ 99	1999/ 00	2000/ 01	2001/ 02
Ranking<ref name="Ranking history">Template:Cite web</ref>	<ref group="nb">He was an amateur.</ref>	<ref group="nb">The ranking system did not begin until 1976.</ref>	UR	20	15	17	20	22	16	18	12	11	7	11	13	9	11	17	15	7	15	25	25	36	51	75	76	<ref group="nb">He was not on the Main Tour.</ref>
Ranking tournaments
British Open<ref group="nb">The event was also called the British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982–1983/1984)</ref>	Tournament Not Held					Non-Ranking Event					2R	F	3R	3R	3R	1R	1R	2R	3R	2R	1R	1R	3R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	A
Grand Prix<ref group="nb">The event was also called the Professional Players Tournament (1982/83–1983/84) and the Grand Prix</ref>	Tournament Not Held								2R	SF	3R	1R	3R	QF	1R	2R	3R	2R	2R	1R	1R	2R	1R	2R	LQ	1R	LQ	A
European Open	Tournament Not Held														3R	2R	3R	3R	1R	1R	QF	LQ	LQ	NH	LQ	Not Held		A
UK Championship	Not Held			Non-Ranking Event							QF	F	3R	SF	3R	3R	3R	3R	3R	1R	3R	2R	1R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	A
Welsh Open	Tournament Not Held																	QF	3R	1R	2R	1R	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A
China Open	Tournament Not Held																							NR	LQ	LQ	LQ	A
Thailand Masters<ref group="nb">The event was also called the Asian Open (1989/1990–1992/1993) and the Thailand Open (1994/1995–1997/1998)</ref>	Tournament Not Held									Non-Ranking Event				Not Held		QF	3R	SF	QF	1R	2R	2R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	A
Scottish Open<ref group="nb">The event was also called the International Open (1981/1982 to 1996/1997) and the Matchroom Trophy (1985/1986)</ref>	Tournament Not Held							NR	1R	QF	QF	3R	1R	2R	3R	3R	Not Held		2R	2R	1R	1R	1R	LQ	2R	LQ	LQ	A
World Championship	A	LQ	1R	1R	LQ	1R	1R	QF	2R	2R	1R	QF	1R	2R	2R	2R	1R	2R	2R	2R	2R	1R	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ	LQ
Non-ranking tournaments
Champions Cup<ref group="nb">The event was also called the Charity Challenge (1994/1995–1998/1999)</ref>	Tournament Not Held																				QF	QF	A	A	A	A	A	A
Scottish Masters	Tournament Not Held							A	A	A	A	F	A	A	NH	A	A	A	A	SF	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
The Masters	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	QF	QF	1R	1R	QF	1R	A	1R	1R	WR	A	A	LQ	A	LQ	A	A
Irish Masters<ref group="nb">The event was also called the Benson & Hedges Ireland Tournament (1974/1975–1976/1977)</ref>	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	F	F	1R	A	QF	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Premier League<ref group="nb">The event was also called the Professional Snooker League (1983/1984), the Matchroom League (1986/1987–1991/1992) and the European League (1992/1993–1996/1997)</ref>	Tournament Not Held									A	Not Held		RR	RR	RR	RR	RR	RR	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Former ranking tournaments
Canadian Masters<ref group="nb">The event was also called the Canadian Open (1974/1975–1980/1981)</ref>	Non-Ranking Event							Tournament Not Held				Non-Ranking			1R	Tournament Not Held
Hong Kong Open<ref group="nb">The event was also called the Australian Masters (1979/1980–1987/1988 & 1995/1996) and Australian Open (1994/1995)</ref>	Tournament Not Held					Non-Ranking Event									NH	3R	Tournament Not Held				NR	NR	Tournament Not Held
Classic	Tournament Not Held					Non-Ranking Event				LQ	W	1R	1R	2R	SF	1R	1R	2R	Tournament Not Held
Strachan Open	Tournament Not Held																	1R	MR	NR	Tournament Not Held
Dubai Classic<ref group="nb">The event was also called the Dubai Masters (1988/1989), Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997)</ref>	Tournament Not Held														NR	A	2R	1R	QF	2R	1R	LQ	1R	Tournament Not Held
German Open	Tournament Not Held																					1R	LQ	LQ	Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held																				Non-Ranking Event					LQ	NR	NH
Former non-ranking tournaments
Padmore Super Crystalate	Tournament Not Held					SF	Tournament Not Held
UK Championship	Not Held			QF	QF	2R	2R	2R	1R	2R	Ranking Event
British Open<ref group="nb">The event was also called the British Gold Cup (1979/1980), Yamaha Organs Trophy (1980/1981) and International Masters (1981/1982–1983/1984)</ref>	Tournament Not Held					RR	LQ	LQ	2R	2R	Ranking Event
Tolly Cobbold Classic	Tournament Not Held				A	A	A	QF	A	QF	Tournament Not Held
Thailand Masters	Tournament Not Held									A	A	RR	A	Not Held		Ranking Event
Malaysian Masters	Tournament Not Held										A	NH	SF	Tournament Not Held									A	Tournament Not Held
Canadian Masters<ref group="nb">The event was also called the Canadian Open (1974/1975–1980/1981)</ref>	QF	SF	1R	1R	2R	A	2R	Tournament Not Held				A	F	A	R	Tournament Not Held
Tokyo Masters	Tournament Not Held													QF	Tournament Not Held
Hong Kong Masters	Tournament Not Held									A	A	SF	W	QF	SF	NH	A	A	Tournament Not Held
Dubai Classic<ref group="nb">The event was also called the Dubai Masters (1988/1989), Thailand Classic (1995/1996) and Asian Classic (1996/1997)</ref>	Tournament Not Held														SF	Ranking Event								Tournament Not Held
Template:Nowrap	Tournament Not Held												W	F	QF	Tournament Not Held
Norwich Union Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held														RR	A	A	Tournament Not Held
English Professional Championship	Tournament Not Held						SF	Not Held			2R	2R	SF	QF	QF	Tournament Not Held
New Zealand Masters	Tournament Not Held										1R	A	Not Held			W	Tournament Not Held
World Matchplay	Tournament Not Held														1R	1R	A	A	A	Tournament Not Held
London Masters	Tournament Not Held														A	SF	A	Tournament Not Held
Shoot-Out	Tournament Not Held																2R	Tournament Not Held
World Masters	Tournament Not Held																3R	Tournament Not Held
Indian Masters	Tournament Not Held																		RR	Tournament Not Held
Kent Classic<ref group="nb">The event was also called the Kent Cup (1986/1987–1987/1988 & 1989/1990–1990/1991)</ref>	Tournament Not Held												W	A	A	A	A	NH	1R	Tournament Not Held
European Challenge	Tournament Not Held																	A	QF	Tournament Not Held
Pot Black	A	RR	SF	A	A	A	A	A	RR	SF	QF	A	Tournament Not Held					1R	1R	1R	Tournament Not Held
Template:Nowrap	Tournament Not Held					A	A	A	A	A	QF	QF	A	A	NH	R	Tournament Not Held				F	A	Tournament Not Held
Malta Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held																				QF	A	1R	A	A	R	A	NH
Seniors Pot Black	Tournament Not Held																						1R	Tournament Not Held
Pontins Professional	A	QF	RR	A	A	A	F	QF	SF	W	SF	F	F	A	A	A	A	A	QF	A	A	A	QF	QF	A	Not Held
World Seniors Masters	Tournament Not Held																									W	Not Held

Performance Table Legend
LQ	lost in the qualifying draw	#R	lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)	QF	lost in the quarter-finals
SF	lost in the semi-finals	F	lost in the final	W	won the tournament
DNQ	did not qualify for the tournament	A	did not participate in the tournament	WD	withdrew from the tournament

NH / Not Held				means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event				means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event				means an event is/was a ranking event.

Career finals

Ranking finals: 3 (1 title)

Legend
UK Championship (0–1)
Other (1–1)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Ref.
Winner	1.	1985	The Classic	Template:Flagicon Cliff Thorburn	13–8	<ref name=":0" />
Runner-up	1.	1985	UK Championship	Template:Flagicon Steve Davis	14–16	<ref name=":2">Template:Cite news</ref>
Runner-up	2.	1986	British Open	Template:Flagicon Steve Davis	7–12	<ref name="CuesportP152" />

Non-ranking finals: 15 (6 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Ref.
Runner-up	1.	1981	Pontins Professional	Template:Flagicon Terry Griffiths	8–9	<ref name=Pontins/>
Winner	1.	1984	Pontins Professional	Template:Flagicon John Spencer	9–7	<ref name=Pontins/>
Runner-up	2.	1985	Scottish Masters	Template:Flagicon Cliff Thorburn	7–9	<ref name="CuesportP152">Template:Cite book</ref>
Runner-up	3.	1986	Irish Masters	Template:Flagicon Jimmy White	5–9	<ref name="SceneIM">Template:Cite web</ref>
Runner-up	4.	1986	Pontins Professional (2)	Template:Flagicon Terry Griffiths	6–9	<ref name=Pontins/>
Winner	2.	1986	Hong Kong Masters	Template:Flagicon Dennis Taylor	8–3	<ref name="87HALE">Template:Cite book</ref>
Winner	3.	1986	Matchroom Professional Championship	Template:Flagicon Steve Davis	10–9	<ref name="CuesportP152" />
Runner-up	5.	1986	Canadian Masters	Template:Flagicon Steve Davis	3–9	<ref name="CuesportP152" />
Winner	4.	1987	Kent Cup	Template:Flagicon Jimmy White	5–2	<ref name="MR">Template:Cite book</ref>
Runner-up	6.	1987	Irish Masters (2)	Template:Flagicon Steve Davis	1–9	<ref name=SceneIM/>
Runner-up	7.	1987	Pontins Professional (3)	Template:Flagicon Neal Foulds	8–9	<ref name=Pontins/>
Runner-up	8.	1987	Matchroom Professional Championship	Template:Flagicon Dennis Taylor	3–10	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Winner	5.	1989	New Zealand Masters	Template:Flagicon Joe Johnson	7–4	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Runner-up	9.	1994	Australian Open	Template:Flagicon John Higgins	5–9	<ref name="CuesportP152" />
Winner	6.	2000	World Seniors Masters	Template:Flagicon Cliff Thorburn	1–0	<ref name=":1" />

Pro-am finals: 2 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Ref.
Winner	1.	1980	Pontins Spring Open	Template:Flagicon Cliff Wilson	7–3	<ref name=Pontins>Template:Cite web</ref>
Runner-up	1.	1984	Warners Open	Template:Flagicon Martin Smith	3–4	<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Team finals: 2

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Team/partner	Opponent(s) in the final	Score	Ref.
Runner-up	1.	1984	World Doubles Championship	Template:Flagicon Cliff Thorburn	Template:Flagicon Alex Higgins Template:Flagicon Jimmy White	2–10	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Runner-up	2.	1995	Lowen Sport European Pro-Am	Template:Flagicon Dieter Johns	Template:Flagicon Peter Ebdon Template:Flagicon Tim Price	6–10	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Amateur finals: 4 (2 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Ref.
Runner-up	1.	1969	British Under-16 Championship	Template:Flagicon Philip Hughes	2–3	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Winner	1.	1970	British Under-16 Championship	Template:Flagicon Roger Mays	3–2	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Winner	2.	1973	British Under-19 Championship	Template:Flagicon Peter Edworthy	3–0	<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Runner-up	2.	1975	English Amateur Championship	Template:Flagicon Sid Hood	6–11	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Further reading

• Template:Cite book

External links

• Template:WST player
• Template:Snooker.org player
• Template:IMDb name