24-556: Lada Classic may refer to: Classic (snooker) , a professional snooker formerly tournament held in Bournemouth Lada English Golf Classic , a professional golf tournament on the European Tour held at The Belfry , Warwickshire in 1979 A series of medium-sized Lada -branded family cars built by Russian car manufacturer AvtoVAZ , based on
48-580: A Punt on My Life , was published in 2011. 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. He was friends with footballer Gary Lineker , which was the subject of the VHS production, Best of Friends – The Official Story of Gary Lineker & Willie Thorne . In 1985, Lineker was best man at Thorne's wedding. Thorne
72-502: A glass factory while practising snooker in Loughborough and then Leicester's snooker halls. Thorne became national Under-16 snooker champion in 1970, and won three consecutive National Under-19 Billiards Championship titles from 1971 to 1973. He turned professional in 1975, but never really converted his early promise into success, only winning one ranking snooker tournament (The Classic in 1985). The same year, he reached
96-545: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Classic (snooker) The Classic was a professional snooker tournament, which began in 1980 and ended in 1992. It was originally a non- ranking event, but became ranking in 1984. Steve Davis won the event six times and was the last champion. The tournament started as the Wilsons Classic in January 1980. It
120-409: 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 blue off its spot during the first frame of the final session allowed Davis to take the frame and eventually win the title. Thorne later said that he had "hardly looked" at the blue, considering it a "certainty". Thorne
144-734: The BBC . 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. He had two brothers. Thorne was educated at the Thomas Rawlins School in Quorn , and played multiple sports but excelled the most in snooker. He began playing snooker while holidaying in Eastbourne at the age of 14. He left school at age 15 and became an estimator for
168-514: The "missing link" between old-school percentage play and the current aggressive potting game. He took 19 seasons to record 100 competitive century breaks . He was only the third player to achieve this feat and achieved a maximum break at the 1987 UK Championship . Thorne claimed to have made almost 200 maximum breaks, and was known as "Mr Maximum". Thorne won the World Seniors Masters in 2000, beating Cliff Thorburn in
192-573: 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 . He also had stints commentating on snooker for Sky and ITV. Thorne continued to commentate for BBC Wales on their coverage of the Welsh Open in February each year. Alongside other Matchroom professionals, Thorne featured in
216-599: The design of the Fiat 124 : VAZ-2101 VAZ-2102 VAZ-2103 VAZ-2106 Lada Riva Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Lada Classic . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lada_Classic&oldid=1153684571 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
240-486: The event the following year, this time defeating John Parrott 13–11. In 1989, Doug Mountjoy won his second consecutive ranking tournament, having previously won the UK Championship , by defeating Wayne Jones 13–11. The following year was a tournament of upsets, as only of four of the top sixteen players reached its seeded place. Steve James won his only ranking tournament by defeating Warren King 10–6 in
264-514: The final with century breaks of 102 and 106, and then defeated Davis 10–9 to claim the 1986 Matchroom Professional Championship . He peaked at No. 7 in the world rankings in the mid-1980s, while also battling a serious gambling problem. Thorne began gambling when he frequented a billiard hall in central Leicester from the age of 16. 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
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#1732790610167288-601: The final. After retiring from the game in 2001, 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
312-503: The final. The tournament moved to the Bournemouth International Centre in 1991. Stephen Hendry reached the final of the tournament in 1991 and 1992, but lost 4–10 against Jimmy White and 8–9 against Steve Davis respectively. After the 1992 event, it was discontinued and replaced with the Welsh Open . Sources: Willie Thorne William Joseph Thorne (4 March 1954 – 17 June 2020)
336-440: The final. Davis was level at 8 frames each with Tony Meo and only the colours were left in the deciding frame. As Meo lined up on the yellow, a spectator yelled out "Come on, Tony!". Although Meo took time to compose himself after the shout, he missed the yellow and Davis cleared the colours to win. Mercantile Credit took over the sponsorship for the 1985 and the event was renamed Mercantile Credit Classic . Willie Thorne won
360-541: The first televised maximum break (147) in his quarter-finals match against John Spencer . Terry Griffiths won in the final 9–8 against Steve Davis. In 1983 the field was expanded to 16 players and moved to the Spectrum Arena in Warrington . Bill Werbeniuk reached the only final of his career, but lost 9–5 against Steve Davis. In 1984, the event was granted ranking status. Steve Davis met Tony Meo in
384-562: The only ranking tournament of his career, by beating Cliff Thorburn 13–8 in the final. In 1986 Jimmy White won his first ranking tournament by defeating Thorburn 13–12 in the final. In 1987 the event moved to the Norbreck Castle Hotel in Blackpool , but only just the last 16 played in the final stages, as the opening rounds were played earlier in the season. Steve Davis won in the final 13–12 against Jimmy White. Davis won
408-418: The popular song " Snooker Loopy ", written and performed by Chas & Dave . 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". Thorne was described as a skilled break-builder and possibly
432-420: 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. Thorne also held the all-time record in the "Pocket Money" round of the BBC show Big Break , with a score of £540, until it
456-443: 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. In an interview with The Guardian newspaper in 2004, Thorne admitted to placing bets of up to £20,000 on horses. Thorne's bald head made him instantly recognisable and he was often referred to as the " Homer Simpson of Snooker". He first began commentating for
480-516: Was a lifelong fan of Leicester City . In June 2015, Thorne was diagnosed with prostate cancer after a psychiatrist ordered routine blood tests. After diagnosis, Thorne began treatment. Thorne tweeted on 18 March 2020 that he had been diagnosed with leukaemia . On 16 June 2020, he was placed in an induced coma after suffering respiratory failure in hospital in Spain. The following day, his carer reported that Thorne had gone into septic shock ,
504-419: 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 ". After retiring as a player, Thorne became a snooker commentator, primarily for
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#1732790610167528-528: Was an eight-man invitation event recorded by Granada Television . John Spencer defeated Alex Higgins 4–3 in the final to become the inaugural champion. The second event was held in December the same year, with Steve Davis defeating Dennis Taylor 4–1 in the final. In 1982 , the Russian automobile manufacturer Lada became the sponsor of the event and it was renamed to Lada Classic . Steve Davis made
552-819: Was broken by Tony Knowles' score of £580 in April 1996. Thorne was married to former Miss Great Britain winner Jill Saxby and lived in Broughton Astley . He was previously married to Fiona Walker, with whom he had twin sons and a daughter. From 1982, he ran the Willie Thorne Snooker Centre club in Leicester , converted from a former motor taxation office, where Mark Selby used to compete in junior tournaments. In 2004, Thorne and writer Derek Marsden co-authored his first autobiography, Double or Quits . His second autobiography, Taking
576-763: 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 . Thorne won the 1986 Hong Kong Masters by 8–3 over Dennis Taylor in
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