Jimmy White walks out of arena in bizarre moment during British Seniors Open presentation

Jimmy White wasn’t hanging about for the winner’s presentation at the British Seniors Open.

‘The Whirlwind’ lost 7-5 in the final to ‘Gentleman’ Joe Perry and after shaking hands, he headed straight out of the arena.

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White was in no mood to see Perry lift the trophy and pick up £20,000 in prize money.

However, there was no animosity or frostiness between the two once the match was over.

The two shook hands, and White even gave his fellow Englishman his bow tie.

The 63-year-old had already removed the bow tie halfway through the final frame, seemingly accepting that he was going to lose.

And after a quick handshake, he handed the tie to Perry, who tucked it away in his pocket.

And before you knew it, White was off.

Perry didn’t seem to be remotely bothered as he held the trophy aloft at the Valiant Live arena in Derby.

White had seen off Ken Doherty and Alfie Burden to make the final, while Perry beat two of the pre-tournament favourites in Stuart Bingham and Matthew Stevens to make the showpiece.

Perry opened up on Boxing Day with a 4-0 win over Bingham in the quarter-finals before he dispatched Stevens 5-3.

For White, it was a 4-2 victory over Doherty before a 5-3 win against Burden.

But in the final, Perry proved to be too good.

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Long time coming

Incredibly, that was the first meeting between these two since the British Open in 2000.

Ahead of the contest, White took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to express his excitement for the upcoming contest.

He said: “Can’t believe it’s been 25 years since our last meeting in a British Open.

“Really looking forward to it, great to be back in Derby.”

Out of the two, Perry had been playing as a professional until recently, up until 2024.

The 51-year-old called it a day after the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.

Before that, he had been dipping his toe into commentary, but now he’s retired, you can mainly see Perry as a pundit or hear him in the commentary box.

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Speaking about his retirement earlier this year to Radio Snooker, he said: “I’m not missing being out there one bit.

“I’ll always love snooker, but the actual playing side I don’t miss one bit.

“No regrets from my side. I knew I was ready to pack up.”

But even in retirement, Perry still has the skills needed to win tournaments like this.