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SNOOKER: Peter caught up in a Whirlwind

13/ 5/2006

YOU could say it was a whirlwind decision taken in 1995. The Observer, in association with New Look Windows, organised a snooker classic which attracted a full house to the Town Hall.

Stars of the show were Jimmy White and John Virgo who were booked to play a match and show off their trick shots.

Then there was Peter Forbes, a Rochdale postman who had won a local knockout and earned the right to meet Jimmy White in a one-frame match on the big night.

The evening before he came to Rochdale, White had rattled in two maximum 147 breaks in Leicester, and he had made it clear he was out for a treble and would not be showing any charity to the local amateur.

White made a rapid-fire break of 80 to win the frame, but Forbes got a chance to pot pink and black and earned rapturous applause from the crowd and especially from his Catholic Club team-mates.

For the record, the score was 100-20 in White's favour.

Forbes later said: "It was a superb experience and something I will always remember. I didn't feel nervous before the match, but when I walked into the arena it hit me then.

"Once we started playing I settled down again. It took me a while to take it all in afterwards and to be honest I'm glad it's all over. I can start to enjoy it now.

"To be honest I was only expecting to get a couple of shots if I was lucky. I had a couple of half-chances and I was really pleased to pot the pink and black - I'm still not sure how I got them. After the match Jimmy asked if I always tried to pot the pink off the spot. I told him there was nothing else I could do. He said it was a Jimmy White shot.

"Jimmy was a very nice bloke and made it a great night for me."