Jimmy White has vowed to thrill his legion of fans by booking a return to the Crucible after five years of failing to qualify for the Betfred.com World Championship.
The six-time runner-up in Sheffield heads to Beijing for the China Open, which begins on Monday, looking to tune up his competitive instincts, and a first-round clash with last year's World Championship runner-up Judd Trump should see to that.
Firstly White must beat Syrian Omar Alkojah in the wild-card round.
Jimmy White has vowed to thrill his legion of fans by booking a return to the Crucible after five years of failing to qualify for the Betfred.com World Championship.
The six-time runner-up in Sheffield heads to Beijing for the China Open, which begins on Monday, looking to tune up his competitive instincts, and a first-round clash with last year's World Championship runner-up Judd Trump should see to that.
Firstly White must beat Syrian Omar Alkojah in the wild-card round, but that should pose him no trouble if the 49-year-old is accurate in assessing his form as the best it has been for years.
White turns 50 on 2 May - day two of the World Championship quarter-finals.
He is guaranteed a Crucible outing next month, as he will tackle Stephen Hendry in a Snooker Legends event at the theatre on April 13, eight days before the World Championship begins.
But he is convinced that will not be his only visit to the famous venue, and is preparing enthusiastically for the qualifiers which are held in early April.
"I still can win any tournament and I'm in the top 48 so I only have to beat two players to get to the World Championship," White told Press Association Sport.
"I just still love playing and always have done so while I keep doing that I'm just going to keep enjoying it.
"I will be there. I'm playing too well not to be there.
"After that, if I can keep it going, who knows.
"I'm giving it plenty of time on the practice table."
White spent last weekend on business in Shanghai but was back in England on Tuesday, hard at practice on Wednesday morning, playing an exhibition on Thursday, and then packing his bags for another flight to the Far East.
A visa mix-up meant White had to pull out of the Beijing event last year, but this time he has everything in place.
While White relishes the intensity of competition, he is also a supporter of the crowd-pleasing exhibition events, and is eager to have another crack at Hendry on the Crucible stage where the Scot beat him in four finals between 1990 and 1994.
"We have a bit of fun but when we play he'll be trying to beat me, don't worry about that," White said.
White's good friend Ronnie O'Sullivan is also joining the Legends tour for a number of events this year, taking the standard of competition to a new level.
"It's phenomenal," said White. "We've had some great fun. He does lots of exhibitions with me and really enjoys it."
