World Snooker Championship stars drank over 40 pints each in boozy drinking contest

A big drinking session went down in snooker folklore between World Championship stars.

Bill Werbeniuk in action

World Snooker Championship icon Bill Werbeniuk came out on top in a mega drinking contest. (Image: Getty)

The stars of yesteryear have been known to enjoy a drink or two, but two stars took their boozing to the next level in a contest that saw both players sink over 40 pints in one session.

Bill Werbeniuk, known as ‘Big Bill’ for his towering frame, famously drank numerous pints of lager during matches. And his adventures did not stop when he walked away from the baize, regularly consuming 40 pints in a day before being challenged by fellow professional Eddie Sinclair.

Scottish star Sinclair was said to have thrown down the gauntlet to Werbeniuk during a trip to Australia in the 1970s. Taking to a pub Down Under, the pair began an all-day drinking session to determine who could handle their alcohol the most on the professional tour.

However, after 85 pints were consumed between the two of them there was only one clear winner. Canadian Werbeniuk is said to have drank 43 compared to Sinclair’s 42, before then asking to turn to a stiffer drink while his rival struggled with the copious amounts of alcohol in his system.

Bill Werbeniuk

Bill Werbeniuk would regularly smoke and drink during his snooker matches. (Image: Getty)

"Bill Werbeniuk against an old Scottish pro called Eddie Sinclair, that was the match of the century," seven-time world champion told The Guardian in 2001. "Werbeniuk won 43 to 42. That's pints, by the way. Went on all day, the drinking, finished when Sinclair was on his back, unconscious. At that point Werbeniuk gives it: 'I'm away to the bar for a proper drink'."

Those familiar with Werbeniuk will be unsurprised that he won a drinking contest, having regularly downed six cans of lager before his snooker matches. He tragically died of heart failure in January 2003 but remains one of the sport’s fondest heroes.

Another time in Australia, taking on John Spencer, Werbeniuk for another seven hours as he soaked up the Australian nightlife.

The four-time World Championship quarter-finalist was actually encouraged by his doctors to drink, having suffered from a familial benign essential tumour. He also had hypoglycemia, a condition when your blood sugar (glucose) level is lower than the standard range, often associated with .

It typically occurs if someone with diabetes takes too much insulin, misses a meal or overexercises. But it meant that Werbeniuk was able to burn off alcohol and sugar at such a rate that he was able to get through an amount of alcohol that would cause serious harm to another person.

And it ensured that while Sinclair was on the floor, as remembered by Hendry, Werbeniuk was able to continue drinking and even move up the gears into a drink stronger than lager.

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?