Bill Werbeniuk

Name: Bill Werbeniuk

Nationality: Canadian (Born Winnepeg, Manitoba)

Date of birth: 14/01/1947

Professional: 1973-1990

Highest Ranking: 8 (1983/84)

Career highlights: Canadian Professional champion 1973, North American champion 1973-76, World Cup Team winner 1982

Canadian Werbeniuk began playing snooker at the age of nine and won the Canadian Amateur title in 1973. He turned professional later that year before celebrating with the double of the Canadian Professional Championship and the North American Championship.

Little seen in the UK at that stage, it wasn't until 'Big Bill' reached the quarter-finals of the World Championship in 1978, where he lost to Ray Reardon, that he decided to make Britain his home.

Werbeniuk purchased an old bus for £20,000 - fitting it out with television, video, stereo, kitchen, shower, two bedrooms, lounge, telephone and the all important beer on tap - and lived in it wherever his tournament entries would take him.

Suffering from a disease known as Familiar Benign Essential Tremor, a condition that caused his right hand to shake, Werbeniuk discovered that the best remedy was to drink copious amounts of lager - a fact that Inland Revenue clearly agreed with, allowing him to write off £2000 a year against tax after deeming the beer essential to his career.

But it was in 1980 that Werbeniuk suffered his most famous moment, as part of the Canadian team that played (and lost) to Wales in the World Cup Team championship.

Playing David Taylor in an early round, Werbeniuk's tight trousers split at the seam, revealing to all in the arena, as well as those watching on television, a distinct lack of underwear. An appeal was made for a needle and thread and Werbeniuk had to leave the arena for 15 minutes for repairs to be made.

Werbeniuk did reach a major individual final, losing 9-5 to the in-form Steve Davis at the 1983 Lada Classic in Warrington.

But heading into the 1984-5 season at a career-high world number eight, Werbeniuk's form plummeted and he failed to progress beyond the second round of a tournament. Within two years he dropped out of the top 32.

Best Moment: Playing Joe Johnson, Werbeniuk landed what was dubbed 'the pot of the century' by potting a long red by accidentally jumping the cue ball over a red that was in the way and knocking the ball into the bottom left-hand pocket.

Worst Moment: With the tremor in his right hand rapidly intensifying, Werbeniuk was prescribed the beta-blocker Inderel by doctors concerned about the effects of lager on his health. But after the drug was added to the banned substances list in 1988 by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, Werbeniuk was first fined and then suspended after refusing to stop taking it, arguing the drug was "performance enabling not performance enhancing".

Werbeniuk died of heart failure in February 2003, aged 56, having spent his final years living with his mother in Vancouver on disability benefits and having dismissed the modern game as "boring".

Day 1 - Thursday 3.15pm LIVE on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521) & Eurosport Player

Day 2 - Friday 4pm LIVE on British Eurosport (Sky 410 / Virgin Media 521) & Eurosport Player