'Whirlwind' Jimmy White is on the cuff of qualifying for the Betfair World Snooker Championship for the first time in six years after beating Xiao Guodong 10-4 to reach the final round in Sheffield.

Betfair World Snooker Championship Qualifiers 2013 - Whirlwind White storms on

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Jimmy White is most famously known for his six Betfair World Snooker Championship finals in which he lost and in recent years he hasn't even been able to qualify for the game's showpiece event in Sheffield.

However for the first time in six years he is on the pinnacle of reaching the Crucible once again, after a commanding 10-4 victory over China's Xiao Guodong in the qualifiers at the Sheffield Institute of Sport.

The 50-year-old managed to best his young opponent in the safety department during the first session and he established a 6-3 lead. When they resumed in the evening, Xiao could only manage one frame before White won the following two to see out the match 10-4.

Jimmy White

The Whirlwind will need to improve his scoring (only three half-centuries in 14 frames)  to stand a decent chance to make it back to the Crucible, as one of the strongest qualifiers in the draw, Robert Milkins stands in his way on Saturday.

Another popular player to make it through to the final qualifying round was China Open quarter-finalist Jack Lisowski.

The young potter, originally from Gloucester, is in the best form of his career so far and it showed as he made seven half-century breaks and a brilliant 128 in the second frame to see off veteran James Wattana 10-4. 

Many would love to see Lisowski qualify for the Crucible and join friend and practice partner Judd Trump in the main draw. He now has a great chance to do that as he faces Fergal O'Brien in the final round, a match he would fancy his chances to win.

Another exciting young prospect in the shape of Ben Woollaston also made it through tonight, 10-3 against Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. Woollaston also has been having a great few months of late and next has a match against the under-performing Ryan Day to reach the Crucible.

Ben Woollaston

The others to make it through tonight were Michael White and Kurt Maflin. Unlike his namesake, Michael has yet to qualify for the Crucible in his career, and he stands a great chance to beat Andrew Higginson on the weekend, after a convincing 10-5 win over Zhang Anda.

Norway's Maflin also will fancy his chances to make his Crucible debut after his 10-7 victory over Steve Davis, which included one of the best breaks of 117 you will ever see in a cubicle. He now needs to beat another former world champion in the shape of Peter Ebdon.

Check out my interview with Maflin during the PTC Grand Finals last month here.

Betfair World Snooker Championship 2013 - Last 64 Results