A moment in history. A final never forgotten. A black ball that brought the snooker world to its knees. It has been 26 years since the Crucible Classic which gave us a memorable match and a momentous final frame. You can probably picture the events from memory already but for the sake of reminiscing through Instant Classics, whether you’re a fan of the result or not, this is definitely one of them.
The 3-time World Champion at the time, Stephen Hendry contested against recurring rival Jimmy White, in what was his sixth and last WSC final. Hendry has headlined many terrific classics and moments during his career (some of which will be re-hashed in the future), but the 1994 match will always live in memory with most as a (minimum) Top 3 contest.
It was a pretty close fought match throughout with Hendry winning 5-in-a-row and White winning 6-in-a-row during the opening session as White edged it 9-7. Hendry was always on White’s heels as he didn’t let him extend the lead. There was almost always a frame between them until Hendry reached towards the championship end as he led 16-14 and 17-16. This included a critical juncture where Hendry showed remarkable sportsmanship as he corrected referee John Williams on a free ball – a call which could have provided him a 17-15 lead. Nevertheless, White wasn’t about to let his closest chance at gold slip as he forced the decider.
This was White’s closest chance not only because of the score-line, but due to this being the year that Hendry had injured his elbow with a hairline fracture. This would make cushion or awkward bridging shots quite uncomfortable for him. Secondly, White had momentum in his favour as he forced the decider from 17-16 down. Additionally, Hendry was in first and missed.
The decider. Only the second time to happen at the Crucible. After Hendry left a red over the left corner pocket, faltering at 24, White had his shot. Already with 8 points, White was carefully manoeuvring his way amongst the reds. Normally when an opponent misses a pot, the other player comes to the table reinvigorated and somewhat relaxed that they have another chance. You could say that White was feeling the opposite at this point in the match. However, White was doing well – he got the reds to a point where there wasn’t a difficult ball on the table.
The black. On a break of 29, White had a seemingly standard black; which Dennis Taylor mentioned in commentary would probably have a 1 in 30 chance of missing. Whether it was a twitch, the pressure, a distraction or looking too far ahead came one of the most shocking moments in snooker history. This was noted by the very audible disbelief and gasps from the audience as this happened. This is because they all knew, including the commentators, what was going to happen next. And it did happen.
This isn’t to take away anything from what happened next, which is often overshadowed by the nature of the missed black. Hendry masterfully cleared the remainder of the table with a break of 58, demonstrating his middle pocket excellence as well as his nerves of steel. He had just claimed his fourth world title in five years.
Whether you and the live audience favoured the result or not, both players were gracious in victory and defeat, which made their rivalry enjoyable to watch. Out of all White’s final, this was certainly the one that got away. Little did White and the rest of us know, it would be the last time he graced the world final while Hendry continued to take the 90s by storm. It’s a final remembered by all, fans and players alike. And for those new to snooker and wanting recommendations of classic matches to watch, this is definitely an Instant Classic.
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