Alex Higgins

**Alexander Gordon Higgins** (18 Mairch 1949 – 24 Julie 2010) wis a Northern Irish professional snooker player. Nicknamed **Hurricane Higgins** acause of his fast play, he wis Warld Champion in 1972 an 1982, an rinner-up in 1976 an 1980. He wan the UK Championship in 1983 an the Masters in 1978 an 1981, makkin him ane o eleiven players tae hae completit snooker's Triple Crown. Forby he wis Warld Doubles champion wi Jimmy White in 1984, an wan the Warld Cup three times wi the Aw-Ireland team.

Higgins cam tae be kent as the "People's Champion" acause o his popularity, an is aften credited wi haein brocht the gemm o snooker tae a wider audience, contributin tae its peak in popularity in the 1980s. He haed a reputation as a unpredictable an difficult character. He smokit a lot, struggled wi the drink an gamblin, an admitted tae uisin cocaine an marijuana. First diagnosed wi cancer o the thrapple in 1998, Higgins dee'd frae a wheen things in his Belfast hame on the 24 Julie 2010. Higgins aye hauds the hiechest break tae win a Warld Championship, bein 135 in the 1982 final agin Ray Reardon.

## Life an career

### Early life
Higgins wis raised in the Kirk o Ireland. He stairtit playin snooker whan he wis 11, aften in the Jampot club in his native Sandy Row area o sooth Belfast an later in the YMCA in the heid o the toun. He flittit til England for a career as a jockey whan he wis 14. Houaniver, he niver made the grade cause he wis ower hivy tae ride in a competitive settin. He gaed back tae Belfast an bi 1965, aged 16, he haed compiled his first maximum break. In 1968 he won the Aw-Ireland an Northern Ireland Amateur Snooker Championships.

### Warld titles
Higgins turned professional whan he wis 22, winnin the Warld Championship at his first attempt in 1972, agin John Spencer winnin 37–32. Higgins wis the yungest iver winner o the title in the time, a record that wis keepit until Stephen Hendry's 1990 win at the age o 21. In Apryle 1976, Higgins reached the final again an faced Ray Reardon. Higgins led 11–9, but Reardon made fower centuries an seiven breaks ower 60 tae pull awa an win the title for the fift time wi the score o 27–16. Higgins wis the rinner-up tae Cliff Thorburn in 1980, lossin 18–16, efter bein 9–5 up. Higgins wan the warld title for a seicont time in 1982 efter baetin Reardon 18–15 (wi a 135 tot clearance in the final frame); it wis a emotional an professional win for him. Higgins wad hae been ranked No. 1 in the warld rankins for the 1982/83 season haed he nae forfeited rankin pynts follaein disciplinary action.

### Ither wins
Ootthrou his career, Higgins wan 20 ither titles, ane o the maist notable anes bein the 1983 UK Championship. In the final he trailed Steve Davis 0–7 afore producin a famous comeback tae win 16–15. He wan the Masters twice, in 1978 an in 1981, baetin Cliff Thorburn (a man that, at ae pynt, caaed doun Higgins wi ae swift punch ) an Terry Griffiths in the finals respectively. Anither kenspeckle win wis his last professional win in the 1989 Irish Masters at the age o 40 whan he baet a yung Stephen Hendry. This wis the last professional tournament he wan, an is aften cryed "The Hurricane's Last Hurrah".

### Efter retirement
Efter his retirement frae the professional gemm, Higgins spent time playin for smaw sums o siller in an aboot Northern Ireland. He made appearances in the 2005 an 2006 Irish Professional Championship, thir comebacks endin in first-roond defeats bi Garry Hardiman an Joe Delaney respectively.

On the 12 Juin 2007, it wis reportit that Higgins haed battert a referee at a charity match in the north-east o England. Higgins returned tae competitive action in September 2007 at the Irish Professional Championship in Dublin but wis whitewashed 0–5 bi umwhile British Open champion Fergal O'Brien in the first roond at the Spawell Club, Templeogue.

Higgins wad keep playin aften an enjoyed "hustling" aw comers for smaw-time stakes in clubs in Northern Ireland an ithergates; in May 2009 he entered the Northern Ireland Amateur Championship, "for tae gie it a crack", but failed tae appear for his match.

On 8 Apryle 2010, Higgins wis pairt o the first *Snooker Legends Tour* event in Sheffield, at the Crucible. Appearin alang wi ither professionals that retired or wad retire suin, the likes o John Parrott, Jimmy White, John Virgo an Cliff Thorburn, he faced Thorburn in his match, but lost 2–0.

It is estimatit that Higgins earnt an spent £3–4 million in his career as a snooker player.

## Wey o playin
Higgins's speed aroond the table, his ability tae pot baas at howdy heest an flamboyant style got him the tae-name "Hurricane Higgins" an made him a hiech-profile player. His rael byordinar cuein technique whiles haed a body swerve, as weel as a stance that wis fairly hie-er nor that o maist professional players.

The byordinar play o Higgins wis encapsulated in his break of 69, made unner byordinar pressure, agin Jimmy White in the penultimate frame o thair Warld Professional Snooker Championship semi-final in 1982. Higgins wis 0–59 doun in that frame, but managed tae compile a rael challengin clearance whaur he wis haurdly in poseetion until the colours. In partiecular, umwhile warld champion Dennis Taylor considers a three-quarter-baa pot on a blue intae the green pocket partiecular memorable, nae anly for it bein awfu haurd, but for lattin Higgins continue the break an keep White aff o the table an unable tae clinch veectory at that moment. In pottin the blue, Higgins screwed the cue-baa ontae the side cushion tae bring it back tae the black/pink bit wi extreme left-haund sidespin, a shot Taylor trews coud be played 100 times wioot comin near the poseetion Higgins reached wi cue-baa. He gaed a tait ower faur for ideal poseetion on his niest reid but the match-savin break wis alive yet.

### Professionalism an behaviour

Higgins drank alcohol an smokit whan tournaments wis gaun on, as did a wheen o his contemporaries. A volatile personality got him intae a lot o fechts an airguments, baith on an aff o the snooker table. Ane o the maist serious clashes wis whan he pat the heid on a tournament offiecial at the UK championship in 1986 efter a airgument. This incident saw Higgins bein fined £12,000 an baured frae five tournaments, while he wis convicted o assault an criminal damage frae the incident, an wis fined £250 bi a coort.

Anither incident cam at the 1990 Warld Championship; efter lossin his first-roond match tae Steve James, he punched tournament offiecial Colin Randle in the wame afore the stairt o a press conference whaur he annunced his retirement, an abused the media as he left. This follaed anither incident at the Warld Cup, whaur he repeatedly argued wi fellae player an compatriot Dennis Taylor, an threatened tae hae him shot. For his conduct, Higgins wis banned for the rest o the season an aw o the niest ane.

Durin the Warld Trickshot Championship in 1991, Higgins demonstrated whit leukit like his iegnorance o hou a professional snooker player shoud behave, whan he descrived the black baa as "Muhammad Ali" in his performance afore a live audience an TV cameras, which caused a visibly pained expression frae Barry Hearn an an exclamation frae judge Steve Davis that his score wis aaready laich afore the shot wis even played.

## Ootwi snooker
At the time of his 1972 triumph at the Warld Championship, Higgins haed nae permanent hame an bi his ain accoont haed bidden in a raw o abandoned hooses in Blackburn no lang syne, that wis waitin tae be caaed doun. In ae ouk he haed flittit intae five different hooses on the same street, flittin doun ane ilka time his current hoose wis caaed doun.

In 1975, Higgins's son wis born. Higgins wis first mairit on Cara Hasler in Apryle 1975 in Sydney. Thay haed a dochter Christel an divorced. His seicont mairiage wis tae Lynn Avison in 1980. Thay haed a dochter Lauren (born late 1980) an son Jordan (born Mairch 1983). Thay split in 1985 an divorced.  In the same year, Higgins began a relationship wi Siobhan Kidd, endin in 1989 efter he allegedly hat her wi a hairdryer.

He wis freends wi Oliver Reed for a lang time.

He wis the subject o *This Is Your Life* in 1981 when he wis surprised bi Eamonn Andrews.

In 1983 Higgins helped a yung boy frae Manchester, a fan o his that haed been in a coma for twa month. His paurents wis growin desperate an wrat tae Higgins. He recordit messages on tape an sent thaim tae the boy wi his best wishes. He later visited the boy in hospital an played a snooker match he promised tae hae wi him whan he got better.

In 1996, Higgins wis convicted o settin aboot a 14-year-auld boy, while in 1997 than-girlfriend Holly Haise stabbit him three times in a domestic airgument. He published his autobiography, *From the Eye of the Hurricane: My Story*, in 2007. Higgins appeared in the Sporting Stars edition o the British telly quiz *The Weakest Link* on the 25 Julie 2009.

## Illness an daith
For a lot o years, Higgins smokit a lot. He reportedly smokit 80 cigarettes a day. He haed cancerous growths remuved frae his mooth in 1994 an 1996. In Juin 1998, he wis fund tae hae cancer o the thrapple; on the 13 October that year, he haed major surgery. He coud anly speak in a whisper in his last years.

In early 2010 he suffered frae pneumonia an breithin problems, an on the 31 Mairch he wis taen tae the hospital. In Apryle 2010 Higgins' friends annunced that thay haed setten up a campaign tae help raise the £20,000 he needit for teeth implants, tae lat him eat richt again an pit on wecht. Higgins haed lost his teeth efter intensive radiotherapy uised tae treat his thrapple cancer. It wis reportit that syne losin thaim he haed been livin on liquid maet, an haed become aye mair depressed, even thinkin aboot makkin wey o hissel. He wis ower seek an frail tae hae the implants fittit. Maugre o his illness, Higgins wad keep smokin cigarettes an drinkin a lot until the end o his life. He wis taen til the hospital again in Mey.

Bi the simmer o 2010, Higgins' wecht haed faaen doun tae . Aatho he haed ance been wirth £4 million, he wis bankrupt an leeved on a £200-a-week disability allouance. He wis fund deid in bed in his flat on the 24 Julie 2010. The cause o daith wis malnutrition, pneumonia, teeth decay, an a bronchial condeetion, awtho his dochter Lauren sayed that he wis clear frae cancer o the thrapple whan he dee'd.

Higgins' funeral service wis hauden at St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast on the 2 August 2010. He wis buirit in Carnmoney Cemetery in Newtownabbey, Coonty Antrim. Amang the snooker professionals that wis thare wis Jimmy White, Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty, Joe Swail, Shaun Murphy an John Virgo. Doherty an White wis pall bearers.

## Legacy

Alex Higgins wis a inspiration tae a lot o professional snooker players, the likes o Ken Doherty, Jimmy White an Ronnie O'Sullivan. In Clive Everton's TV documentary *The Story of Snooker* (2002), Steve Davis descrived Higgins as the "ae true genius that snooker haes gien us", awtho the autobiography o a contemporary leadin professional Willie Thorne characterised Higgins as "no a great player". Higgins arguably fulfilled his potential anly intermittently in his career peak in the 1970s an 80s; Everton pits this doun tae Davis an Ray Reardon maistly bein ower consistent for him.

Regairdless, Higgins' excitin style an explosive persona helpit mak snooker a growin telly sport in the 1970s an 1980s. Higgins made the first 16-reid clearance (in a challenge match in 1976); it wis a break of 146 (wi the broun as the first "reid", an 16 colours: 1 green, 5 pinks an 10 blacks).

In 2011, Event 8 o the Players Tour Championship wis renamed as the Alex Higgins International Trophy. In 2016, WPBSA preses Barry Hearn annunced that the trophy for the new Northern Ireland Open tournament wad be caaed efter Higgins.

Higgins' professional rivalry wi Steve Davis wis portrayed in a 2016 BBC featur film caaed *The Rack Pack*, whaur he wis played bi Luke Treadaway.

## Performance an rankins timeline




## Career finals

### Rankin finals: 6 (1 title, 5 rinner-ups)

{|
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### Non-rankin finals: 50 (23 titles, 27 rinner-ups)
{|
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### Pro-am finals: 3 (2 titles, 1 rinner-up)

### Team finals: 5 (4 titles, 1 rinner-up)

### Amateur finals: 3 (2 titles, 1 rinner-up)

## Notes

## References

## Forder readin
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## Fremmit airtins

* Official player profile on *worldsnooker.com* wabsteid
* Alex Higgins: The People's Champion BBC iPlayer. 1 September 2010.
* Profile on Global Snooker
* Alex Higgins 69 Break: Crucible, Sheffield 1982 YouTube. 14 Apryle 20019.
* Higgins and White win the World Doubles Championship 1984 YouTube. 1 September 2009.
* Higgins wins the Canadian Club Masters 1976 YouTube. 26 August 2009.
* Ronnie O'Sullivan reminisces about Alex Higgins BBC Sport. 25 August 2010.
* Alex Higgins appearance on This Is Your Life Big Reid Beuk.