Snooker legend Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins dies at 61
Former world snooker champion Alex Higgins has died aged 61 after a long battle against throat cancer.
The 1972 and 1982 world champion, a heavy smoker, was reportedly found dead in his flat in Belfast on Saturday.....
The Belfast man clinched his first World title in 1972 as he defeated John Spencer in the final and memorably repeated that triumph 10 years later at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield by beating Ray Reardon.
Higgins was also beaten in the 1976 and 1980 world finals while other triumphs included two Masters titles at Wembley.
He had frequent brushes with snooker's governing body - he once head-butted a tournament director - and his career suffered a downward spiral after being banned for an entire season following a threat to have his compatriot Dennis Taylor shot in 1990.
However, Taylor was among the first of many former players and others connected with the sport to pay tribute to Higgins, admitting: "There was just something about the way he played the game - there was a little bit of [John] McEnroe in there.
"I don't think you'll ever see a player in the game of snooker like the great Alex Higgins."
BBC snooker commentator Philip Studd described Higgins as "snooker's original, troubled genius"."Charismatic, flash, fast, unpredictable, combustible - you just couldn't take your eyes off the 'Hurricane'," the BBC commentator told Radio 5 live.
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"While he could never match the consistency of Steve Davis or Stephen Hendry, Higgins on his day was the greatest of them all.
"He touched the heights in 1982 when he won his second world title.
"He pipped Jimmy White to the final thanks to a break still widely regarded as the finest ever made.
"His tears of triumph after beating Ray Reardon - wife and baby in arms - remains one of snooker's most iconic moments.
"Without Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins snooker would never have become one of the most popular television sports in the 1980s and beyond."
I was fortunate (when I lived in Blackburn at the end of 60’s early70’s) to see Alex practice in the local snooker hall fairly regularly, I also saw him play some years later in Toronto.
I remember him rolling into the snooker hall most lunchtimes looking rather dishevelled in a crumpled suit, a copy of the Daily Mirror under one arm and a meat pie in his hand – then when he went on the table he was a genius, he could do pretty well everything with those balls but get them to speak.
