Jimmy White Rolls Back the Years to Claim Snooker 900 Champions Week Title
The Whirlwind Blows Again
There is a particular kind of cheer that Jimmy White produces in a snooker crowd — something warmer and more instinctive than simple appreciation, as though the audience is collectively willing the years to fall away. On Thursday evening in Reading, that feeling was very much in the air. White, the six-time World Championship finalist whose artistry once made the Crucible gasp, defeated Reanne Evans 5-3 in the final of the Snooker 900 Champions Week event, broadcast live on Pluto TV. It was a result that felt entirely fitting for a format built on the kind of bold, instinctive snooker that has always defined him.
Evans Sets the Early Pace
The road to that final had been anything but straightforward for White. The tournament ran on a round-robin format, and it was Evans who dominated the league phase with an almost flawless week of snooker. The 12-time women's world champion — a figure who has spent years quietly dismantling the ceiling placed above women in this sport — won every single one of her matches, making her look the overwhelming favourite to lift the trophy. At that stage, it was difficult to argue with the conclusion.
Yet the Snooker 900 format has a habit of rewarding the bold. Under its distinctive scoring system, players earn one point for every frame won, but a crucial bonus point is added for each century break compiled. White, who won four of his five round-robin matches, found his avenue back into contention through the most instinctive weapon in his arsenal — his attacking game. A 120 break against Evans proved decisive, earning him that all-important bonus point and lifting him level with her at the top of the standings. The pair finished comfortably clear of the rest of the field, which included women's stars Ng On Yee and Rebecca Kenna, veterans Dave Causier, and a returning John Parrott — the 1991 world champion taking his place in the field on what was a welcome return to competitive action, even if the standings ultimately left him at the foot of the table.
A Format Built for Fighters
The Snooker 900 concept is, at its core, designed for players like White. Each frame lasts precisely 15 minutes — 900 seconds, hence the name — with a shot clock pressing players into decisions, attacking lines, and instinctive positional choices that longer formats allow you to think your way out of. There is no hiding place for caution, and no reward for safety-first attrition. In that sense, it is almost a love letter to the style of snooker White has played his entire career.
The series has been built largely through the efforts of promoter Jason Francis and carries the backing of seven-time world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan, who has long argued that snooker needs to find ways of reaching audiences beyond its traditional base. Broadcast on Pluto TV, the format has generated genuine intrigue — not simply as a novelty, but as a distinct competition in its own right, with its own rhythm, its own drama, and increasingly its own loyal audience.
Looking Ahead to the Global Championship
White's Champions Week victory will now serve as something of a warm-up act for the event that promises to be the centrepiece of the Snooker 900 calendar. The inaugural Global Snooker 900 Championship is scheduled to run from 12 to 17 May at the Crucible Sports and Social Club in Reading — a venue name that will inevitably carry a certain resonance for White, who knows better than most what it feels like to stand in a Crucible and come agonisingly close to the top of the sport. Evans, too, is expected to feature in what shapes up as a compelling field, with O'Sullivan among the headline names set to participate.
For now, though, the story belongs to White. A 5-3 win in the final, a century against the woman who had beaten everyone else all week, and a trophy lifted in the kind of format that asks you to play without fear. Some things, it turns out, do not change much with age. The Whirlwind still blows.
