'The Whirlwind' Jimmy White is in Tipperary this week

Snooker Supremo Jimmy ‘The Whirlwind’ White is in Thurles this evening (Wednesday) to take on twenty three locals in a pool challenge at Mackey’s Bar, Bohernanave.

Kicking off at 7:30pm the evening promises to be a very entertaining one with Irish pool champion Neil Madigan also on the ticket.

Jimmy White has won two of snooker’s three majors: the UK Championship (in 1992) and the Masters (in 1984) and a total of ten ranking events. He is currently tenth on the all-time list of ranking event winners.

The Whirlwind reached six World Championship finals but never won the event; the closest he came was in 1994 when he lost in a final frame decider against Stephen Hendry. He spent 21 seasons ranked in snooker's elite top 16.

And, he will square up against twenty three of the best locals around when they take to the table at Mackey’s Bar during the course of the evening to see if they can up-stage the highly entertaining English star.

Among those who take on Jimmy will be Pepe Joe Cleere, Ned Cornally, Sean Butler, David McElgunn, Martin ‘Rocky’ McElgunn, Jack Rossiter, Pat Lawlor, Adam Condon, Noel Lyons, Freddie Chute, Jimmy Collins, Michael Grogan, Denis Reilly, Patrick ‘Bishop’ Ryan, Shay Scanlon, Nigel Condron, Niall Loughnane, Henry Maher, John Ryan, Willie Kelly, Paul Twomey, Brian Callanan and Jim Mackey.

Mackey’s Bar proprietor, Jim Mackey, told the Tipperary Star that there has been great interest in the event which is being co-sponsored by Paddy Power, Premier Meats and Ely’s Centra.

“We have had a lot of interest in the event and we are delighted to be hosting it here in our pub. We have brought in a pool table especially for the event and the hope is to have a great atmosphere here as we see up close how Jimmy White does the business.

“We have a great line-up of locals too to take him on and they are relishing the challenge at having a go at one of the best in the business.

“It's not every day that you get to see these stars up close and for anyone with a passing interest in snooker or pool, Jimmy White is an iconic name. He was exciting on the table and alsways brough a real buzz to championships. We hope that it will be the same in our bar tonight and judging by the amount of talk about it, it will be,” Jim said.

Tickets cost just €10 but are limited due to the constraints of the venue and anybody wishing to go along is advised to check out in advance if there is still room to attend.

There is still a big interest in pool and snooker in the locality with many of the public houses retaining tables and hosting competitions from time to time. And, this visit of Jimmy White may just be the catalyst needed to boost the game locally amonst enthusiasts.