Английская Википедия:Bill Werbeniuk

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Шаблон:Short description Шаблон:Use Canadian English Шаблон:Use dmy dates Шаблон:Infobox snooker player William Alexander Werbeniuk (Шаблон:IPAc-en Шаблон:Respell; 14 January 1947 – 20 January 2003) was a Canadian professional snooker and pool player. Recognisable for his girth, he was nicknamed "Big Bill". Werbeniuk was a four-time World Championship quarter-finalist and also a UK Championship semi-finalist, reaching a career high world ranking of #8 for the 1983–84 season.

Early life

William Werbeniuk was born on 14 January 1947 in Winnipeg. His paternal grandfather had immigrated to Canada from Ukraine; his father, according to Werbeniuk, "was one of the biggest fences in Canada" and "committed armed robberies, peddled drugs, every larceny in the language." His father also owned Pop's Billiards on Logan Avenue in Winnipeg, where Werbeniuk began playing snooker as a child. Werbeniuk spent a portion of his youth travelling with Cliff Thorburn and playing pool for money.

Career

Werbeniuk won the Amateur Championship in 1973, with a 16–15 victory against Robert Paquette after being 12–15 behind. This qualified him for the North American Amateur Championship. He won the North American Amateur Championship by defeating Cliff Thorburn 26–22, winning five of the last six frames after the pair were level at 21–21.

His playing record included a 9–8 quarter-final loss to John Pulman in the 1975 Canadian Open and quarter-final losses in the 1978 and 1979 World Championships to Ray Reardon and John Virgo respectively. He reached the semi-finals of the UK Championships (when it opened to non-UK based residents) but lost 9–3 to the reigning world champion Terry Griffiths. He suffered a third World quarter-final defeat to Reardon in 1981 by 13–10.

In the 1983 Lada Classic, Bill reached his first major final, but was beaten by Steve Davis 9–5. Werbeniuk again reached the quarter-finals of the World Championships, in the same year, losing 13–11 to Alex Higgins, and reached his second major final in the summer, losing 7–3 to compatriot Cliff Thorburn in the Winfield Masters in Australia.

Alcohol consumption

Werbeniuk was noted for the copious amounts of alcohol he consumed before and during matches – at least six pints before a match and then one pint for each frame. In total, he drank between 40 and 50 pints of lager per day. Doctors advised Werbeniuk to drink alcohol to counteract a familial benign essential tremor. Later in his career he also took propranolol, a beta blocker, to cope with the effects of his alcohol consumption on his heart.

Werbeniuk was reported to have successfully claimed the cost of 6 pints of lager before every match as a tax deductible expense.

Some of Werbeniuk's alleged feats of drinking include: 76 cans of lager during a game with John Spencer in Australia in the 1970s; 43 pints of lager in a snooker match/drinking contest against Scotsman Eddie Sinclair in which, after Sinclair had passed out following his 42nd pint, Werbeniuk was reported to say "I'm away to the bar now for a proper drink"; 28 pints of lager and 16 whiskies over the course of 11 frames during a match against Nigel Bond, in January 1990 – after which Werbeniuk then consumed an entire bottle of Scotch to "drown his sorrows" after losing the match.

Split trouser incident

A memorable incident occurred during a televised match against Dennis Taylor in the World Team Tournament. Werbeniuk tried to stretch across the table, but due to his size was having some difficulty. Eventually he split his trousers. The ripping noise it made caused many in the audience, including his opponent, to laugh out loud. Werbeniuk took it in good humour, asking the audience "who did that?" as if insinuating that the noise was attributed to flatulence.

Trick shots

In another incident, playing against Joe Johnson, Werbeniuk made what the announcer termed the "pot of the century" when he potted a long red by jumping the cue ball so that it bounced in front of and over an interposing red, knocking the object red in. Later in the match, he got an unusual fluke, when he missed a simple brown to the top corner, but it cannoned out of the pocket, off the opposite cushion and into the centre pocket on the same side.

Use of propranolol

Werbeniuk was ranked 8th in the world in 1983 and reached the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship four times before propranolol was banned in snooker competition, as it was classified as a performance-enhancing drug by the International Olympic Committee, the anti-doping rules of which were adopted by World Snooker. Werbeniuk said that his use was medicinal only and under doctor's orders, but was fined and sanctioned anyway.

His career effectively over, he returned to Vancouver, where he lived with his mother and brother. A bankruptcy order was filed against him in 1991, and he lived on disability benefits.

Death

Werbeniuk died of heart failure on 20 January 2003, six days after his 56th birthday.

Performance and rankings timeline

Tournament	1973/ 74	1974/ 75	1975/ 76	1976/ 77	1977/ 78	1978/ 79	1979/ 80	1980/ 81	1981/ 82	1982/ 83	1983/ 84	1984/ 85	1985/ 86	1986/ 87	1987/ 88	1988/ 89	1989/ 90	1990/ 91	1991/ 92
Ranking	No ranking system			14	17	12	12	10	9	9	8	14	17	24	33	47	UR	UR	146
Ranking tournaments
Grand Prix	Tournament Not Held									QF	2R	1R	1R	1R	2R	WD	A	A	LQ
UK Championship	Tournament Not Held				Non-Ranking Event							1R	1R	1R	1R	LQ	A	A	LQ
Classic	Tournament Not Held						Non-Ranking Event				1R	1R	3R	2R	1R	WD	A	A	LQ
British Open	Tournament Not Held						Non-Ranking Event					1R	QF	1R	LQ	WD	A	LQ	LQ
Шаблон:Nowrap	2R	2R	2R	A	QF	QF	2R	QF	2R	QF	2R	2R	1R	LQ	1R	WD	LQ	LQ	WD
Non-ranking tournaments
The Masters	NH	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	QF	1R	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Irish Masters	NH	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A
Matchroom League	Tournament Not Held										RR	Not Held		A	A	A	A	A	A
Former ranking tournaments
Canadian Masters	NH	Non-Ranking							Tournament Not Held				Non-Ranking			LQ	Not Held
International Open	Tournament Not Held								NR	2R	1R	1R	2R	1R	2R	LQ	A	Not Held
Former non-ranking tournaments
Norwich Union Open	A	QF	Tournament Not Held
World Matchplay Championship	Not Held			QF	Tournament Not Held
Holsten Lager International	Tournament Not Held					1R	Tournament Not Held
Canadian Masters	NH	1R	QF	QF	QF	2R	QF	A	Tournament Not Held				A	A	A	R	Not Held
Padmore Super Crystalate	Tournament Not Held						QF	Tournament Not Held
Pontins Camber Sands	Tournament Not Held						QF	Tournament Not Held
International Open	Tournament Not Held								1R	Ranking Event								Not Held
UK Championship	Tournament Not Held				A	A	SF	2R	QF	A	A	Ranking Event
Classic	Tournament Not Held						A	A	A	F	Ranking Event
Tolly Cobbold Classic	Tournament Not Held					A	A	A	A	SF	A	Tournament Not Held
British Open	Tournament Not Held						RR	RR	RR	RR	RR	Ranking Event
New Zealand Masters	Tournament Not Held										W	QF	Not Held			A	A	Not Held
Australian Masters	Tournament Not Held						A	A	A	A	F	1R	1R	A	A	NH	A	Not Held
Pot Black	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	A	1R	QF	Tournament Not Held

Performance Table Legend
LQ	lost in the qualifying draw	#R	lost in the early rounds of the tournament (WR = Wildcard round, RR = Round robin)	QF	lost in the quarter-finals
SF	lost in the semi-finals	F	lost in the final	W	won the tournament
DNQ	did not qualify for the tournament	A	did not participate in the tournament	WD	withdrew from the tournament

NH / Not Held				means an event was not held.
NR / Non-Ranking Event				means an event is/was no longer a ranking event.
R / Ranking Event				means an event is/was a ranking event.

Career finals

Non-ranking finals: 4 (2 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Шаблон:Abbr
Winner	1.	1973	Canadian Professional Championship
Runner-up	1.	1983	The Classic	Шаблон:Flagicon Steve Davis	5–9
Winner	2.	1983	New Zealand Masters	Шаблон:Flagicon Doug Mountjoy	1–0
Runner-up	2.	1983	Australian Masters	Шаблон:Flagicon Cliff Thorburn	3–7

Team finals: 4 (1 title)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Team/partner	Шаблон:Nowrap	Score	Ref.
Runner-up	1.	1980	World Challenge Cup	Шаблон:Flagicon Canada	Шаблон:Flagicon Wales	5–8
Winner	1.	1982	Шаблон:Sort	Шаблон:Flagicon Canada	Шаблон:Flagicon England	4–2
Runner-up	2.	1986	World Cup (2)	Шаблон:Flagicon Canada	Шаблон:Flagicon Ireland "A"	7–9
Runner-up	3.	1987	World Cup (3)	Шаблон:Flagicon Canada	Шаблон:Flagicon Ireland "A"	2–9

Amateur finals: 7 (5 titles)

Outcome	No.	Year	Championship	Opponent in the final	Score	Шаблон:Abbr
Winner	1.	1973	Canadian Amateur Championship	Шаблон:Flagicon Robert Paquette	16–15
Winner	2.	1973	North American Amateur Championship	Шаблон:Flagicon Cliff Thorburn	26–22
Winner	3.	1974	North American Amateur Championship (2)
Runner-up	1.	1975	Canadian Amateur Championship	Шаблон:Flagicon Cliff Thorburn	1–11
Winner	4.	1975	North American Amateur Championship (3)	Шаблон:Flagicon Cliff Thorburn	11–9
Runner-up	2.	1976	Canadian Amateur Championship (2)	Шаблон:Flagicon Cliff Thorburn	2–9
Winner	5.	1976	North American Amateur Championship (4)	Шаблон:Flagicon Cliff Thorburn	11-10

External links

• Шаблон:IMDb name
• Werbeniuk's profile at Global Snooker Centre
• The Life and Death of Bill Werbeniuk
• Obituary in The Daily Telegraph