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Snooker legend ‘Big Bill' Werbeniuk holds a place in the sport's history for his iconic drinking and shot-making.
By Jack McEachen
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Snooker legend ‘Big Bill’ Werbeniuk was a four-time World Championships quarter-finalist but perhaps best known for his notorious antics at the table. He once drank an incredible 76 cans of lager during a match and once made what was described as the “pot of the century”.
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The Canadian tragically died of heart failure in January 2003 at the age of 56 but left the sport with some of its most famous moments. One of his staples was a can of lager and often consumed over 40 pints in a day, regularly downing six before one of his snooker matches.
Today’s professionals can often be seen with a cup of water or tea while playing, but Werbeniuk drank alcohol during his games and usually stuck to a pint in each frame. However, in one match in the 1970s he polished off an incredible 76 cans in a single game - and then went on to continue drinking for another seven hours into the night.
This occurred in Australia during the early years of his career in a match said to be against John Spencer. However, his ability to consume such quantities of alcohol was a result of his hypoglycaemia.
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Bill Werbeniuk in action as he prepares to take a shot. (Image: Getty)
The condition is when your blood sugar (glucose) level is lower than the standard range and is often associated with diabetes. It typically occurs if someone with diabetes takes too much insulin, misses a meal or overexercises.
Werbeniuk was able to burn off alcohol and sugar at such a speed that he was able to get through an amount of alcohol that would cause serious harm to another person. He also suffered from a familial benign essential tumour that meant his doctors would encourage him to drink.
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Bill Werbeniuk once drank 76 cans of lager during a snooker match. (Image: Getty)
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‘Big Bill’ and his legacy are often associated with the copious amounts of alcohol he would drink on the table, but one of his shots was described as “pot of the century” by iconic BBC commentator Ted Lowe. In a match against Joe Johnson, Werbeniuk was left with the cue ball at the top of the table and the majority of the reds towards the bottom.
He then chipped the cue ball over the red, hit another red and sent that one into the bottom corner to a raucous applause inside the arena. Werbeniuk himself appeared surprised that he pulled off the shot, perhaps hinting that it was indeed a fluke, but many have argued that it should have been called a foul.
The cue ball jumped over the object ball, which is not allowed in snooker, but Werbeniuk was not penalised and instead the big-drinking snooker star dazzled those in attendance with a once-in-a-lifetime pot.
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