Former snooker player Willie Thorne dies at 66

Willie Thorne, a former snooker participant who was one in all Britain’s most distinctive sportsmen within the 1980s due to his bald head, died Wednesday. He was 66.

A message on Thorne’s GoFundMe web page stated he died after battling leukaemia. He had been positioned into an induced coma within the hospital in Spain over the weekend after struggling respiratory failure.

The head of World Snooker stated the charismatic Thorne performed a giant position within the sport turning into so standard in Britain within the ’80s, when snooker was at its peak and watched by tens of millions on TV.

“He was a larger-than-life personality and he was a major part of the rebirth of snooker at that time,” Barry Hearn stated. “It’s so sad to hear he has passed away and our thoughts are with his family.”

Thorne reached two quarterfinals on the planet championship, however received only one rating title in his profession regardless of being the most effective break-builders in snooker.

He later commentated on the game for the BBC and appeared on the broadcaster’s standard Saturday evening present, “Strictly Come Dancing.”

Thorne admitted to having playing points and stated he misplaced 1 million kilos ($1.25 million) to it in his profession. He was declared bankrupt in 2016.

One of his closest pals, former England soccer captain Gary Lineker, described Thorne as “one of life’s great characters.

“A marvellous snooker player and a lovely man, who’s potted his final black much too soon,” Lineker wrote on Twitter. “RIP Willie.”