JIMMY White got a shock when he visited Swindon on Friday night as 147 Club member Troy Paul beat the six-time World Finalist.

The Whirlwind was in town for a series of exhibition matches against local snooker stars and fellow professional Stephen Lee.

But the 48-year-old hadn’t anticipated losing a match on the night, let alone his first match.

Troy, who is the son of 147 Club owner Noel Paul, was the first to play White and gave little away, snookering the legend numerous times early on.

A break of 32 put Troy in the lead before White pulled back. White then missed the green allowing the Swindonian to clear up and take victory.

A delighted Troy said: “I was looking forward to playing Jimmy but was extremely nervous. I needed to pot the pink to win and I was nervous and could feel my hand shaking as I played the shot. I’m delighted to have played and beaten one of my all-time idols in the game.”

147 Club owner Noel though could not make it a family double as White dominated proceedings in their match - enjoying a break of 82 and limiting Noel to just three shots before clearing up.

Noel though was still delighted to have played White, saying: “I thoroughly enjoyed it despite the fact I spent most of the time sat down. I had a couple of shots which was good and the atmosphere was fantastic.”

Another 147 Club member to run White close was Ross Corfield, who opened with a break of 24 and was leading all the way before missing the green and eventually going down 64-41. Youngsters Craig Drury, 18, and Dominic Gowland, 11, also gave a good account of themselves, as did 25-year-old Alex Kimber.

Phil Dibb travelled down from Leeds to play White and barely got a look in as The Whirlwind rattled in his biggest break of the night, 112, with Dibb limited to just a couple of shots.

Swindon Advertiser sports editor Steve Butt also played White and said: “There was only ever going to be one result here as I’m not really a snooker player.

“I managed to pot a couple of balls, so I was happy with that and it’s great to be able to say I’ve had a frame with The Whirlwind.”

The night concluded with Swindon-based professional Stephen Lee taking on White in a best of three exhibition match.

Both players pulled off some trick shots and exchanged banter. Lee even pulled a spectator out of the crowd to play one of his shots before losing to White 2-0.

Prior to the event White was entertained by Aby’s Indian Restaurant in Faringdon Road and organiser Karl Paul was delighted with how the night went, saying: “It was lovely to be able to host Jimmy White at the club. Having dinner at Aby’s with Jimmy was also a treat and the night itself was a huge success.

“It’s great that one of our members was able to beat Jimmy but a shame it was my brother Troy as we’ll never hear the end of it. We are hoping this will be the first of many events like this at our club.”

And White also enjoyed the night saying: “It’s fantastic to see such a well-run family snooker club. I’ve enjoyed the night and well done to Troy for beating me.

“There’s obviously some real talent at this club.”