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Alex Higgins

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For other people with similar names, see Alexander Higgins (disambiguation).
Alex Higgins
Alex Higgins in 2008
Born(1949-03-18)18 March 1949
Belfast, Northern Ireland[1]
Died24 July 2010(2010-07-24) (aged 61)
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Sport countryNorthern Ireland[2]
NicknameThe Hurricane[3]
Professional1971–1997[2]
Highest ranking2 (1976/77 and 1982/83)[1]
Tournament wins
Ranking1
World Champion1972, 1982

Alexander Gordon "Alex" Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010),[5] also known by his nickname of Hurricane Higgins, was a Northern Irish professional snooker player who was twice World Champion and twice runner-up. Higgins earned the nickname The Hurricane because of his speed of play.[6] Higgins was also a former World Doubles champion with Jimmy White and won the World Cup three times with the All Ireland team. He also came to be known as the People's Champion because of his popularity.[7]

Higgins is often credited to have brought the game of snooker to a wider audience and contributing to its peak in popularity in the eighties.[8]

Higgins had a reputation as an unpredictable and difficult character.[9] He was a heavy smoker,[10] struggled with drinking and gambling,[8][11] and admitted to using cocaine and marijuana.[6] Diagnosed with throat cancer in 1998,[12] Higgins was found dead in his Belfast home on 24 July 2010.[13]

Life and career

Early life

Higgins (right) with David Taylor at an exhibition at Queen's University Belfast, 1968

Alex Higgins was born in Belfast[14] and had three sisters.[12] He started playing snooker at the age of 11,[15] often in the Jampot club in his native Sandy Row area of south Belfast and later in the YMCA in the nearby city centre. At age 14 and weighing seven and a half stones (47.6 kg), he left for England and a career as a jockey.[16] However, he never made the grade because, in his youth, he drank a lot of Guinness and ate a lot of chocolate which made him too heavy to ride competitively.[17] He returned to Belfast and by 1965, aged 16, he had compiled his first maximum break.[15] In 1968 he won the All-Ireland and Northern Ireland Amateur Snooker Championships.[14]

World titles

Higgins turned professional at the age of 22, winning the World Championship at his first attempt in 1972, against John Spencer winning 37–32.[18] Higgins was then the youngest ever winner of the title, a record retained until Stephen Hendry's 1990 victory at the age of 21.[19] In April 1976, Higgins reached the final again and faced Ray Reardon. Higgins led 11–9, but Reardon made four centuries and seven breaks over 60 to pull away and win the title for the fifth time with the score of 27–16. Higgins was also the runner-up to Cliff Thorburn in 1980, losing 18–16, after being 9–5 up. Higgins won the world title for a second time in 1982 after beating Reardon 18–15 (with a 135 total clearance in the final frame); it was an emotional as well as professional victory for him. Higgins would have been ranked #1 in the world rankings for the 1982/83 season had he not forfeited ranking points following disciplinary action.[20][21]

Other victories

Throughout his career, Higgins won 20 other titles, one of the most notable being the 1983 UK Championship. In the final he trailed Steve Davis 0–7 before producing a famous comeback to win 16–15.[22] He also won the Masters twice, in 1978 and in 1981, beating Cliff Thorburn and Terry Griffiths in the finals respectively.[23] Another notable victory was his triumph in the 1989 Irish Masters at the age of 40 when he defeated a young Stephen Hendry.

Post-retirement

After his retirement from the professional game, Higgins spent time playing for small sums of money in and around Northern Ireland. He made appearances in the 2005 and 2006 Irish Professional Championship, these comebacks ending in first-round defeats by Garry Hardiman and Joe Delaney respectively.

On 12 June 2007, it was reported that Higgins had assaulted a referee at a charity match in the north-east of England.[24] Higgins returned to competitive action in September 2007 at the Irish Professional Championship in Dublin but was whitewashed 0–5 by former British Open champion Fergal O'Brien in the first round at the Spawell Club, Templelogue.[25]

Higgins continued to play fairly regularly and enjoyed "hustling" all comers for small-time stakes in clubs in Northern Ireland and beyond; in May 2009 he entered the Northern Ireland Amateur Championship, "to give it a crack",[26] but failed to appear for his match.

On 8 April 2010 Higgins was part of the debut Snooker Legends Tour event in Sheffield, at the Crucible, checking himself out of hospital two days before the event after having been admitted with pneumonia and breathing problems.[27] He appeared alongside other retired or close-to-retiring professionals including John Parrott, Jimmy White, John Virgo and Cliff Thorburn.[28]

It is estimated that Higgins earned and spent £3–4 million in his career as a snooker player.[29][30]

Playing style

Higgins's speed around the table, his ability to pot balls at a rapid rate and flamboyant style earned him the nickname "Hurricane Higgins" and made him a very high-profile player. His highly unusual cueing technique sometimes included a body swerve and movement, as well as a stance that was noticeably higher than that of most professionals. This unorthodox play was encapsulated in his break of 69, made under unusual pressure, against Jimmy White in the penultimate frame of their World Professional Snooker Championship semi-final in 1982. Higgins was 0–59 down in that frame, but managed to compile an extremely challenging clearance during which he was scarcely in position until the colours. In particular, former world champion Dennis Taylor considers a three-quarter-ball pot on a blue into the green pocket especially memorable, not only for its extreme degree of difficulty but for enabling Higgins to continue the break and keep White off the table and unable to clinch victory at that moment. In potting the blue, Higgins screwed the cue-ball on to the side cushion to bring it back towards the black/pink area with extreme left-hand sidespin, a shot Taylor believes could be played 100 times without coming close to the position Higgins reached with cue-ball. He went a little too far for ideal position on his next red but the match-saving break was still alive.[31][citation needed]

He also drank and smoked during tournaments, as did many of his contemporaries, helping sponsor tobacco advertising. A volatile personality got him into frequent fights and arguments, both on and off the snooker table. One of the most serious of these clashes was when he head-butted a referee at the UK championship in 1986. This led to his being fined £12,000 and banned from five tournaments.[32] He was convicted of assault and criminal damage, and fined £250 by a court.[33] Another came at the 1990 World Championship; after losing his first-round match to Steve James, he punched tournament official Colin Randle in the abdomen before the start of a press conference at which he announced his retirement. This, added to his having threatened to have fellow player and compatriot Dennis Taylor shot, led to a ban for the whole of the following season.[34]

Outside snooker

At the time of his 1972 triumph at the World Championship, Higgins had no permanent home and by his own account had recently lived in a row of abandoned houses in Blackburn which were awaiting demolition. In one week he had moved into five different houses on the same street, moving down one every time his current dwelling was demolished.[35]

In 1975, Higgins' son Chris Delahunty was born.[17] Higgins's first marriage was to Australian[17] Cara Hasler in April 1975 in Sydney. They had a daughter Christel[11] and divorced. His second marriage was to Lynn Avison in 1980 at a United Reformed Church.[16] They had a daughter Lauren (born late 1980)[36] and son Jordan (born March 1983).[12][37][38][39] They split in 1985[33] and divorced. In the same year, Higgins began a relationship with Siobhan Kidd, which ended in 1989 after he allegedly hit her with a hairdryer.[40]

He had a long and enduring friendship with Oliver Reed and was a good friend of Jimmy White, with whom he often played exhibition matches.[41]

While not normally noted for his philanthropy, in 1983 Higgins helped a young boy from the Manchester area, a fan of his who had been in a coma for two months. His parents were growing desperate and wrote to Higgins. He recorded his voice on a tape and sent it to the boy with his best wishes. He later visited the boy in hospital, unannounced, and promised that if the boy recovered they would play snooker together. True to his word, once the boy was out, the match was held.[42]

In 1996, Higgins was convicted of assaulting a 14-year-old boy,[30] while in 1997 his then girlfriend Holly Haise stabbed him three times during a domestic argument.[33] He published his autobiography, From the Eye of the Hurricane: My Story, in 2007.[43] Higgins appeared on the Sporting Stars episode of British television quiz The Weakest Link, on 25 July 2009.[44]

Illness and death

For most of his adult life Higgins often smoked up to 60 cigarettes a day.[17] He had cancerous growths removed from his mouth in 1994 and 1996.[13] In June 1998, he was found to have throat cancer;[12] on 13 October of that year, he had throat surgery.[45]

In 2009, Higgins lived in a caravan.[30] In spring 2010, he had pneumonia.[39] In April 2010 Higgins's friends announced that they had set up a campaign to help raise the £20,000 he needed for teeth implants, to enable him to eat properly again and put on weight. Higgins lost his teeth after intensive radiotherapy used to treat his throat cancer. It was reported that since losing them he had been living on liquid food, and had become increasingly depressed, even contemplating suicide.[46] He was too ill to have the implants fitted.[47] Despite his illness he continued to smoke cigarettes and drink heavily until the end of his life.[48]

At the end of his life, Higgins' weight fell to 6 stone (38 kilograms).[30] He lived in sheltered housing on the Donegall Road, Belfast.[39] Despite having once been worth £4 million, he was bankrupt and survived on a £200-a-week disability allowance.[49] He was found dead in bed in his flat on 24 July 2010.[5][14][38] The cause of death was a combination of malnutrition, pneumonia, a bronchial condition and throat cancer.[50] His children survive him.[51]

Higgins was cremated, and his ashes were interred in Carnmoney Cemetery in Newtownabbey, County Antrim

Legacy

Alex Higgins was an inspiration to many subsequent professional snooker players including Ken Doherty, Jimmy White and Ronnie O'Sullivan who in an interview stated "Alex was an inspiration to players like Jimmy White and thousands of snooker players all over the country, including me. The way he played at his best is the way I believe the game should be played. It was on the edge, keeping the crowd entertained and glued to the action."[52]

In Clive Everton's TV documentary The Story of Snooker (2002), Steve Davis described Higgins as the "one true genius that snooker has produced",[53] despite the autobiography of a contemporary leading professional Willie Thorne characterising Higgins as "not a great player".[54] Higgins arguably fulfilled his potential only intermittently during his career peak in the 1970s and '80s; Everton puts this down to Davis and Ray Reardon generally being too consistent for him.[55]

Regardless, Higgins' exciting style and explosive persona helped make snooker a growing television sport in the 1970s and 1980s. Higgins also made one of the first 16-red clearances (in a challenge match in 1976); it was a break of 146 (with the brown as the first "red", and sixteen colours: 1 green, 5 pinks and 10 blacks).[56]

Performance timeline

Tournament 1971/
72 		1972/
73 		1973/
74 		1974/
75 		1975/
76 		1976/
77 		1977/
78 		1978/
79 		1979/
80 		1980/
81 		1981/
82 		1982/
83 		1983/
84 		1984/
85 		1985/
86 		1986/
87 		1987/
88 		1988/
89 		1989/
90 		1990/
91 		1991/
92 		1992/
93 		1993/
94 		1994/
95 		1995/
96 		1996/
97 		1997/
98
UK Championship NH NH NH NH NH NH SF SF QF F QF F W F 2R SF 2R 1R 1R A LQ LQ LQ 2R LQ LQ LQ
The Masters NH NH NH QF QF SF W F F W SF 1R QF QF 1R F QF A WR A LQ LQ LQ A LQ A A
World Championship W SF QF SF F 1R 1R QF F 2R W SF 1R 2R 2R 2R 1R LQ 1R A LQ LQ 1R LQ LQ LQ A
Performance Table Legend
LQ lost in qualifying draw #R lost in the early rounds of the tournament
(WR = Wildcard round)
QF advanced to but not past the quarterfinals SF advanced to but not past the semifinals
F advanced to the final, tournament runner-up W won the tournament
NH event was not held A did not participate in the tournament

Tournament wins

Ranking wins

Non-ranking wins

Team wins

Pro-Am wins

  • Pontin's Spring Open[60]

Amateur wins

  • All Ireland Amateur Championship – 1968[61]
  • Northern Ireland Amateur Championship – 1968[58]

Notes

  1. ^ The World Championship did not become a ranking event until 1974
  2. ^ The UK Championship did not become a ranking event until 1984

References

  1. ^ a b c Chris, Turner (2010-08-03). "Alex Higgins". Chris Turners Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 10 February 2013. Retrieved 2010-08-03.
  2. ^ a b "Then and Now: Alex Higgins". Eurosport. 2009-11-04. Retrieved 2010-01-14.
  3. ^ "Alex Higgins". World Snooker Tour. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  4. ^ Hughes, Simon (January 25, 2003). "These days Hurricane Higgins is running out of wind". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Digital. Archived from the original on 30 March 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-28. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  5. ^ a b Boyle, Simon (2010-07-24). "Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins dies, aged 61". London: The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-24. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ a b "Obituary: Alex Higgins". BBC. 2010-07-24. Archived from the original on 26 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-24. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ Weber, Bruce (2010-07-31). "Alex Higgins, the Bombastic 'People's Champion' of Pro Snooker, Dies at 61". New York Times. Archived from the original on 3 August 2010. Retrieved 2010-08-03. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  8. ^ a b Neenan, Bill (2010-07-24). "Snooker's elite pay tribute to the inspiration of Alex Higgins". London: guardian.co.uk. Archived from the original on 29 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-24. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  9. ^ "Hurricane Higgins used to live in Cuffley". Hertfordshire Mercury. Retrieved 16 November 2010.
  10. ^ "Where are they now?". BBC Sport. 2010-07-24. Retrieved 2002-01-31.
  11. ^ a b "Hurricane warning". Irish Independent. 2002-10-19.
  12. ^ a b c d "Alex Higgins". Talk Snooker. 2010-07-24. Archived from the original on 17 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-24. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ a b "Snooker star Alex Higgins found dead at Belfast home". Daily Express. 2010-07-26. Archived from the original on 28 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-26. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  14. ^ a b c Metcalfe, Nick (2010-07-24). "Snooker legend Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins dies at the age of 61". London: Mail Online. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-24. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  15. ^ a b "World Snooker Profile". WPBSA. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  16. ^ a b Leake, Christopher (2010-07-25). "'The finest ever snooker player'". Mail Online. London.
  17. ^ a b c d McKinstry, Leo (2010-07-26). "How the hurricane finally blew himself out". Mail Online. London.
  18. ^ "Where are they now? – Alex Higgins". johnvirgo.com. Archived from the original on 17 April 2008. Retrieved 2008-04-09. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  19. ^ "1990 – Cue Stephen Hendry". BBC Sport. 2002-04-12. Retrieved 2010-09-24.
  20. ^ Osley, Richard; Gray, Sadie (25 July 2010). "Snooker legend Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins is dead". London: The Independent. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
  21. ^ "Alex Higgins: The genius". The Belfast Telegraph. Independent News & Media. 26 July 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2010.
  22. ^ "UK Championship history". BBC Sport. 2005-12-02. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
  23. ^ Burnett, Mike (2006-01-12). "Masters history". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2010-08-04.
  24. ^ "Higgins 'hits ref' at fund-raiser". BBC Sport. 2007-06-12. Archived from the original on 30 June 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-12. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  25. ^ "News". Eurosport. 2007-09-04. Retrieved 2007-09-04. [dead link]
  26. ^ "Higgins goes back to his roots". BBC Sport. 2009-05-09. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  27. ^ Gyan, Christian (2010-04-02). "Alex Higgins admitted to hospital". Daily Mail. London. Retrieved 2010-07-28.
  28. ^ "Crucible 2010". Snooker Legends Tour. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  29. ^ "Cancer-stricken Higgins urged by friends to dodge cameras at funeral". The Examiner. 1997-10-10. Archived from the original on 3 May 2007. Retrieved 2007-04-20. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  30. ^ a b c d Craig, Olga (2010-07-25). "Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins dies, aged 61". The Daily Telegraph. London.
  31. ^ [1] @2.42
  32. ^ "Bad Boys: Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins". BBC Sport. 2003-04-11. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  33. ^ a b c "The turbulent life and times of Alex Higgins". The Daily Telegraph. London. 2010-07-24.
  34. ^ Yates, Phil (2007-05-04). "Top five controversial incidents". London: Times Online. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  35. ^ Byrne, Robert. Byrne's Advanced Technique in Pool and Billiards.
  36. ^ Everton, Clive (2010-07-25). "Alex Higgins, snooker's anti-hero, dies aged 61". guardian.co.uk. London.
  37. ^ "Alex Higgins: Snooker legend who always found controversy off the table". Mail Online. London. 2010-07-24.
  38. ^ a b "Snooker legend Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins dies at 61". BBC. 2010. Archived from the original on 24 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-24. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  39. ^ a b c Faulkner, Katherine (2010-05-20). "Frail Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins living on baby food after losing his teeth in throat cancer battle". Mail Online. London.
  40. ^ "Alex Hurricane Higgins' last interview". The Belfast Telegraph.
  41. ^ "Eye of the hurricane". London: The Observer. 2002-10-06. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  42. ^ "I'm No Angel 6 (at 3:16)". Youtube. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  43. ^ Hattenstone, Simon (2007-06-16). "The people's grouch". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  44. ^ Hodgson, Guy (1998-10-16). "Another fight for Higgins: this time it's for his life". London: The Independent. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  45. ^ "Alex Higgins 'thought about suicide'". The Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  46. ^ Briggs, Simon (2010-07-24). "Snooker mourns as Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins dies aged 61". London: The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  47. ^ "Cancer-stricken snooker legend Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins fighting for life after contracting pneumonia". Daily Record. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
  48. ^ "Alex Higgins 'thought about suicide'". BelfastTelegraph.co.uk. 2010-04-26. Retrieved 2013-05-04.
  49. ^ Tinney, Aaron. "Video: Last footage of Alex Higgins shows cupboards stacked with food... but he couldn't eat a bite". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 2 January 2011.
  50. ^ Hendon, David (2010). "Electrifying on the table, combustible off it". London: The Independent. Archived from the original on 27 July 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-25. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  51. ^ Dillon, Andrew (2007-05-21). "We'll welcome Hurricane". The Sun. London.
  52. ^ "Blowing up a storm". BBC Sport. 2001-04-17. Retrieved 2007-08-27.
  53. ^ Thorne, Willie (2004). Double or Quits: The Willie Thorne Story. Liverpool. pp. 140–41.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  54. ^ Everton, Clive (2010-07-25). "Alex Higgins, snooker's anti-hero, dies aged 61". London: guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-01-02.
  55. ^ "Snooker World Records (16 Red Ball Clearances)". WWW Snooker. Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  56. ^ a b Chris, Turner. "Other Non-Ranking and Invition Events: First held before 1980". Chris Turners Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  57. ^ a b c "Pro Snooker Blog Profile". Retrieved 2009-08-07.
  58. ^ Chris, Turner. "Other Non-Ranking and Invition Events: First held 1980-1989". Chris Turners Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 16 February 2012. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  59. ^ Chris, Turner. "Pontins Open, Pontins Professional, Pontins World Pro-Am Series". Chris Turners Snooker Archive. Archived from the original on 28 February 2012. Retrieved 2013-06-30.
  60. ^ "Global Snooker Profile". Global Snooker. Retrieved 2009-08-07.

Further reading

  • Higgins, Alex (1986). Alex Through the Looking Glass. London: Pelham Books. ISBN 0-7207-1672-1. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Hennessey, John (2000). Eye of the Hurricane: The Alex Higgins Story. Edinburgh: Mainstream. ISBN 1-84018-385-3.
  • Borrows, Bill (2002). The Hurricane: The Turbulent Life & Times of Alex Higgins. Atlantic Books. ISBN 1-903809-91-6.
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