Jimmy White is confident of making a return to the World Championship next month as he believes he is playing too well not to qualify.
White has not reached the final stages of the tournament since 2006 but heads into the qualifiers starting on April 3 in bullish mood after a run of good performances, even after his hopes of making a ranking event quarter-final appearance at the age of 60 were ended by Pang Junxu at the WST Classic in Leicester. "I am playing ok, I just ran out of steam.
I'll take a couple of days off now and get back to practice on Friday," White told wst.tv. "I'll be getting to the Crucible, I am playing too well." Expectations rose after White, who at the recent German Masters became the first player in his 60s to reach the last 16 since Eddie Charlton in 1992, claimed a first professional win over Judd Trump in the previous round earlier in the day.
He coasted into a 3-0 lead then withstood a brief comeback to wrap up a 4-2 victory before an opening-frame win over Pang briefly boosted his chances of making the last eight.