Snooker Star John Virgo Leads Tributes To Willie Thorne At Memorial
조회 수 1 추천 수 0 2020.07.20 07:56:31Snooker star John Virgo led the tributes to Willie Thorne at an emotional memorial service held in Spain today as his son revealed he will be buried back in the UK.
More than 80 people packed a community centre to say farewell to the 66-year-old who died last week while undergoing treatment for leukaemia.
Neither his ex-wife and former Miss GB Jill Saxby, who revealed last week that they spoke 'every day' before his death, or celebrity friends such as Gary Lineker and Steve Davis could be there due to Covid travel restrictions.
Instead Virgo joined Thorne's twin sons Tristan and Kieran and daughter Thali at the Cristo Resucitado Ecumenical Centre in Alicante.
Standing next to a large floral tribute spelling out 'Willie' and a black and white photograph of the star in his heyday, Virgo fondly remembered their days together on the BBC TV series Pot Black.
He said: 'When we were doing Pot Black they were looking for a good looking player, and Willie beat me to it.
It was Willie who was the good looking one.
Snooker star John Virgo led the tributes to Willie Thorne at an emotional memorial service held in Spain today.
More than 80 people packed a community centre to say farewell to the 66-year-old who died last week while undergoing treatment for leukaemia
Willie Thorne's twin sons Tristan and Kieran (pictured) and daughter Thali at the Cristo Resucitado Ecumenical Centre in Alicante, Spain today
Flowers and a note left at Willie Thorne's memorial service in Spain. The memorial service was overseen by Pastor Keith Brown, who read a poem for Thorne's children
John Virgo (left, with one of Willie's sons) said: 'When we were doing Pot Black, they were looking for a good-looking player, and Willie beat me to it.
It was Willie who was the good looking one'
The 66-year-old (pictured in 1994), who announced he was battling leukaemia in March, was taken to hospital with a dangerously low blood pressure
'Willie will be a great loss to those he has left behind.
We will miss his jokes, and he could joke could Willie. Back in the days when we started out as professional in snooker it was different to what it is now.
'We had plenty of spare time and that lead to betting, gambling. And that made it difficult, but Willie was a soft hearted man. Myself, Jimmy White and Steve Davis have all said to each other that we can't believe we will never see him again.
'I cannot believe that I am here today at the church, saying all this.
RIP Willie. You will never be forgotten.'
The memorial service was overseen by Pastor Keith Brown, who read a poem for Thorne's children: 'When tomorrow comes without me...I know how much you love me and you know how much I love you.
'Don't think we are far apart.
I am with you in my heart.'
The star retired from competitive snooker in 2001 having been once rated the 7th best in the world which earned him the nickname Mr Maximum (above, the memorial service)
His friend Julie O' Neill, who looked after Thorne during his final three months, sang the song Dancing in the Sky.
A note left at the memorial for Willie Thorne. Earlier this month, he was rushed to hospital when his blood pressure dropped and was put into an induced coma
She also read an eulogy and the opera song Nessum Dorma was also played at the opening of the ceremony.
After the service Kieran revealed that his father's coffin was to be flown back to the UK where he will be buried at a later date.
Thorne, who competed in 2007's Strictly Come Dancing, moved to Spain last year with a view to staging exhibition matches and passing on his skills on the green baize to young players.
His 24-year marriage to Saxby ended due to his gambling addiction and she moved back to the UK.
Thorne had been diagnosed with leukaemia in March and undergone chemotherapy.
With his money problems widely documented, fans contributed to a GoFundMe page to raise money for carers to look after him including Lineker - best man at Thorne's first marriage and one of his closest friends - who contributed £1,000 to the fund.
Earlier this month Thorne was rushed to hospital when his blood pressure dropped and was put into an induced coma.
Medics decided to turn off his life support machine after consultation with his family.
The star retired from competitive snooker in 2001 having been once rated the 7th best in the world which earned him the nickname Mr Maximum.
