Snooker icon Jimmy White has become the third major British cue sport star to leave these shores for Hong Kong, securing residency through the territory’s Quality Migrant Admission Scheme.
The 64-year-old, affectionately known as ‘The Whirlwind’, follows in the footsteps of Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump, both of whom obtained Hong Kong residency via the same immigration pathway back in 2024.
White’s relocation was confirmed by the Hong Kong Immigration Department, which revealed the veteran had collected his identity card.
The move marks yet another departure of a beloved British sporting figure to Asia, continuing a trend that has seen some of snooker’s biggest names establish bases far from the green baize heartlands of England.
Snooker great Jimmy White has left the United Kingdom for Hong Kong
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White’s career spans an extraordinary 47 consecutive professional seasons, a remarkable feat of longevity in elite sport.
During that time, he amassed 10 ranking titles and cemented his reputation as one of the most entertaining players ever to grace the baize.
He is widely considered the finest player never to have lifted the World Championship trophy, having suffered defeat in six finals at the Crucible. His first such heartbreak came against Steve Davis in 1984.
Most recently, the veteran reached the final of last year’s British Senior Open, finishing as runner-up.
Now, rather than simply winding down his playing days, White intends to establish a snooker academy in Hong Kong, nurturing the next generation of talent in the territory.
Speaking to the Hong Kong Immigration Department’s Instagram channel, White outlined his ambitions: “My plan in Hong Kong is to maybe open a snooker academy and find the snooker talent of Hong Kong, promote snooker as much as I can.”
Jimmy White is a snooker legend | PA
He described the territory as a hub for the sport, noting: “This is a snooker hub snooker in Asia started in Hong Kong and now it’s looking as big as ever.”
Beyond his cue sport aspirations, White expressed eagerness to reunite with actor Stephen Chow Sing-chi, with whom he starred in the 1991 film Legend of the Dragon.
“Now I have become a Hong Kong resident, I am going to try looking for my old friend legend of the dragon,” he said, referencing the movie in which he played himself alongside the celebrated Hong Kong star.
Whether White will actually spend significant time in Hong Kong remains an open question, given the precedent set by his fellow émigrés. Trump, the 2019 world champion, has made Dubai his primary residence, though he does return to Hong Kong periodically.
O’Sullivan, the seven-time world champion, similarly divides his time between Dubai and Dublin rather than the territory that granted him residency.
Ronnie O’Sullivan quit the United Kingdom for the Middle East
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Hong Kong’s director of immigration, Benson Kwok, addressed O’Sullivan’s situation directly: “He really likes Hong Kong, so if there are things here that can entice him to stay, he might just choose Hong Kong as his place of residence.”
Kwok acknowledged that O’Sullivan’s circumstances had been in flux but maintained that the snooker great had not abandoned Hong Kong entirely.
