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Although he only ever
won one major tournament, ‘The Great W.T.’ has been
one of the great characters of the game for the past twenty-five
years. His bald head has become part of the snooker scene.
William Joseph Thorne was an outstanding junior and having
only taken up the game at the age of 14, was National Under-16
champion at both snooker and billiards within two years. His
parents ran a pub which had its own snooker table so he could
play whenever he wanted. He won many more junior titles at
both games and reached the final of the English Amateur championship
in 1975 following which he turned professional.
Things did not come easy in the professional ranks and in
his first ten years the only titles to come his way were the
1980 Pontins Open and the 1984 Pontins Professional. He did
not win a match at the World Championships for the first six
years he tried but in 1982 he reached the quarter-finals beating
former champions, Terry Griffiths and John Spencer along the
way, and setting the high break for that year, 143, the second
best ever at that time. This was to prove to be the best he
would do in this event although he did reach the same stage
again in 1986.
In the early 1980s, with his family’s help, he set up
the Willie Thorne Snooker Centre in Leicester, still one of
the finest in the country. His form began to improve after
that world quarter final and he entered the top 16 at the
end of the 1982/83. He slipped back briefly but established
himself in that elite group for an extended run from 1984/85.
Willie has become known as ‘The Maximum Man’ having,
he claims, made more 147s in practice than any other player,
including one with both legs in plaster! The figure is well
into the hundreds but he has only made one in tournament play.
That came in the 1987 UK championships.
His first ranking semi-final came in the 1983 Grand Prix
and the following season he achieved his only victory in a
ranking event when he beat his great friend, Cliff Thorburn,
to win the 1985 Mercantile Credit Classic. Earlier that season
he had partnered Cliff in the World Doubles and they were
runners up. Two more finals came the following season in the
UK and the British Open. The first of these he feels he should
have won having missed an easy blue at a critical stage against
Steve Davis.
He was runner up in the Irish Maters twice in 1986 and 1987
but apart from wins in two non-ranking events in 1986/87,
the Hong Kong Masters and the Matchroom Championship, it has
been downhill ever since. However, now qualified as a ‘Senior’,
he won the first World Seniors Masters in 2000.
Off the table Willie has always enjoyed a gamble and this,
as well as tax matters, has caused him financial problems
over the years. He continues to play the circuit and is in
demand on all channels as a television commentator.
Willie could surely have been one of the really great players
but was never really able to reproduce his undoubted skills
at the tournament table.
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