Snooker legend, and now commentator, Steve Davis offered a hilarious reason why he believes Jimmy White is still playing at age 62.
White began his professional career in 1980 but is showing no signs of walking away any time soon.
He also made it to the second round of the Northern Ireland Open in October.
Davis and White shared several memorable battles on the baize over the years.
Arguably their most iconic match-up came at the 1987 UK Championship, when Davis prevailed 16-14 in the final.
Although White continues to play, Davis – who is only three years older than his former foe – retired in 2016.
It’s why Davis ran out of superlatives when asked to describe White’s ability to hold his own against vastly younger rivals.
“How amazing,” Davis told The Mirror.
“What is he, 62 now? That is amazing.
“Fred Davis played in the worlds when he was 64, but that was a different time. He was more or less guaranteed to play at the Crucible.
“For Jimmy to be competing and beating some of the top players in the world on a weekly basis is just fantastic. Long may it continue.”
When pressed on why he thinks White continues to play despite his age, Davis offered a rather cheeky response.
“I think what’s happened is that he’s spotted you don’t automatically get a heating allowance when you get to 65, so he’s decided to carry on,” Davis said.
White was recently in action at the qualifiers for this year’s edition of the UK Championship, an event he won in 1992.
The 62-year-old beat amateur player Paul Deaville in the first qualifying round but was knocked out by Ross Muir at the next hurdle.
Davis, a six-time world champion, was also conducting commentary duties at the event for the BBC.
But the snooker icon was left baffled during a second round match between Stuart Bingham and Zhang Anda.
In the eighth frame and with a 5-2 lead, Bingham lightly hit a shot towards the yellow but the ball somehow veered off to the left and missed the yellow completely.
Bingham was rather puzzled by the shot and so too was Davis on commentary, who made an instant demand.
“This table needs to be releveled if that’s happening,” Davis said.
Bingham went on to lose 6-5 to Zhang.
