Jimmy White faces a player who was not even born when the Whirlwind turned professional as the battle for the European Open title reaches a climax in Malta tonight.

Jimmy White’s final match of the year will not be the final of the Travis Perkins UK Championship on Sunday.

Jimmy White will not expect to be detained very long when he makes his entrance in the British Open at the Brighton Centre tonight.

Jimmy White has the utmost respect for John Higgins but there will be no quarter given when they clash in the last 16 of the £250,000 European Open at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, Malta today.

Jimmy White has one last throw of the dice in a season that promised so much but is now in serious danger of fizzling out.