WHITE NOISE
I snapped at Jimmy White in horrendous bus putdown – he didn’t know what to say
The snooker star has made a huge retirement decision
DOMINIC DALE has lifted the lid on a brutal comeback he once threw at Jimmy White.
The two tour veterans have played each other 14 times down the years.
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White, 62, famously reached six finals at the World Snooker Championship, but never managed to get over the line.
Appearing on Stephen Hendry's YouTube channel, Dale lifted the lid on one infamous encounter with White on a bus.
Hendry, 55, brought the incident up, saying: "I remember you upset Jimmy, didn't you?"
Dale, 52, giggled as he replied: "Oh my goodness me, you're not supposed to remember these things! We were on the bus going to the venue. I'm sitting right behind him.
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"He turned around and said: "Alright Dom, how are you doing?'. He talks out of the corner of his mouth, like that, you know what I mean?
"He says: 'Tell me something. Have you still got the cue with that white thing on it?'.
"I said: 'Oh, yes, the original ferrule for the cue. I'll never change that'. He says: 'Why don't you put a brass one on? You might be able to play better'.
"I took it wrong, I thought he was implying that I was a useless player, which was probably right anyway."
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Revealing his comeback, Dale continued: "Just off the cuff, I said: 'Why don't you practise blacks off the spot? You'd be world champion'.
"I never even thought about what I was saying! It just came out. That was horrendous. He didn't know what to say and neither did I."
Jimmy White analyses Ronnie O’Sullivan's snooker game over breakfast
Dale and White have split their 14 meetings at seven apiece, with the latter winning their most recent match-up in China earlier this year.
Meanwhile Dale, who qualified for the Crucible for the first time in 10 years back in April, confirmed in August that he will be retiring.
He told the : "I will retire at the end of the season. It doesn’t matter if I win five ranking events, I’ll still retire.
"I can’t do three days of practise now without getting stresses and strains in my joints. Particularly my fingers.
'IT HURTS'
"I feel stiffness in my fingers after practise, I go to bed and there’s a tingling and it’s painful.
"I wake up and it’s swollen and it hurts, I can’t make a fist properly. If it’s in the wrong finger I can’t practise properly.
"I’ve also had problems with tennis elbow in the last few years, which I’ve never had before. My left shoulder, I get a sharp pain there sometimes.
"I don’t enjoy practising, I haven’t done for probably seven or eight years, if I’m honest. I have different priorities. I enjoy the commentary work.
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"It is two-fold and they’re fairly equal, but it’s the aches and pains and that I want to do more commentary, I really enjoy that, I’d love to do that as full-time as possible.
"Those two things combined have made the decision irreversible really, I will retire at the end of the season, I’m not going to change my mind."
List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 - with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 - John Spencer
- 1970 - Ray Reardon
- 1971 - John Spencer
- 1972 - Alex Higgins
- 1973 - Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 - Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 - Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 - Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 - John Spencer (2)
- 1978 - Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 - Terry Griffiths
- 1980 - Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 - Steve Davis
- 1982 - Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 - Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 - Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 - Dennis Taylor
- 1986 - Joe Johnson
- 1987 - Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 - Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 - Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 - Stephen Hendry
- 1991 - John Parrott
- 1992 - Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 - Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 - Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 - Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 - Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 - Ken Doherty
- 1998 - John Higgins
- 1999 - Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 - Mark Williams
- 2001 - Ronnie O'Sullivan
- 2002 - Peter Ebdon
- 2003 - Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (2)
- 2005 - Shaun Murphy
- 2006 - Graeme Dott
- 2007 - John Higgins (2)
- 2008 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (3)
- 2009 - John Higgins (3)
- 2010 - Neil Robertson
- 2011 - John Higgins (4)
- 2012 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (4)
- 2013 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (5)
- 2014 - Mark Selby
- 2015 - Stuart Bingham
- 2016 - Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 - Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 - Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 - Judd Trump
- 2020 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (6)
- 2021 - Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 - Ronnie O'Sullivan (7)
- 2023 - Luca Brecel
- 2024 - Kyren Wilson
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 - Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan
- 6 - Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 - John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 - John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 - Alex Higgins
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