Alex Higgins
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| Alex Higgins | ||
|---|---|---|
| Born | March 18, 1949 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
|
| Nationality | Northern Irish | |
| Nickname(s) | Hurricane Higgins | |
| Professional | 1971— 1997, 2005— 2006 | |
| Highest ranking | 2 (2 years) | |
| Highest break | 147 | |
| Tournament wins | ||
| Ranking events | 1 | |
| Non-ranking events | 5 | |
| World Champion | 1972, 1982 | |
Alexander Gordon Higgins (born March 18, 1949) is a famous snooker player from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who was twice world champion.
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[edit] Life and career
Higgins started playing snooker at a young age, often in the Jampot club in his native Sandy Row area and later in the YMCA in the nearby city centre. In 1968 he won the All-Ireland and Northern Ireland amateur snooker championships. He turned professional at the age of 22, winning the World Professional Snooker Championship at his first attempt in 1972, aged 23. His opponent in that final was John Spencer. Higgins was the youngest winner of the title until Stephen Hendry's 1990 victory at the age of 21. He once again reached the final, in April 1976, only to face one of the greatest players of that era, Ray Reardon. Higgins led 11-9 but Reardon, showing true class, made four centuries, and seven breaks over 60 to pull away and win the title for the fifth time by 27-16. Higgins was also runner-up to Cliff Thorburn in 1980, when looking strong favourite to win at 9-5 up before losing narrowly 18-16. However, he won his second title in 1982 after beating Reardon 18-15 (with a magnificent 135 total clearance in the final frame); it was an emotional as well as professional victory for him.
Higgins' quickness around the table and flamboyant style earned him the nickname Hurricane Higgins, and made him by far the most popular and high-profile player in the game. He drank and smoked during tournaments, as did many of his contemporaries, helping sponsored tobacco advertising. A volatile personality got him into frequent fights and arguments, both on and off the snooker table. Perhaps the most infamous of these clashes was when he head-butted a tournament official at the UK championship in 1986. He is now semi-retired and battles throat cancer periodically. However, he did make appearances in the 2005 and 2006 Irish Professional Championships; the comebacks ending in a first-round defeat by Garry Hardiman in 2005 and a similar first round defeat to Joe Delaney in 2006. Controversy aside, at his peak many considered him to be a genius. This excitement created by Higgins brought him great popularity and, alongside an up-and-coming Jimmy White, arguably elevated the game onto the world stage in the early 1980s.
It is estimated that Higgins earned and blew a £3 million fortune over twenty years.
His unorthodox yet arguably brilliant play is best encapsulated in his break of 69 against White in the penultimate frame of their World Professional Snooker Championship semi-final in 1982. Experts and players continue to cite it as one of the greatest ever breaks under pressure. Higgins was 0-59 down in that frame and probably one ball away from going out, but managed to compile a clearance that almost defied belief. He was scarcely in position until he came to the colours. In particular, one pot will live long in the memory: a three-quarter-ball blue into the green pocket. Higgins screwed the cue-ball on to the side cushion to bring it back towards the black/pink area with extreme left-hand sidespin. Dennis Taylor considers that the shot could be played 100 times without coming close to the position Higgins reached with cue-ball (he actually went much too far for good position on his next red).
Willie Thorne, whose biography arguably displays a certain envy of Higgins's popularity, does not consider him a great player. However, few would dispute that his natural aptitude and cueing ability revolutionised the sport and mark him out as one of the best players ever. Thorne is famous for being one of the best break-builders ever, so perhaps it is worth noting that Higgins made one of the first 16-red clearances (in a challenge match against Thorne in 1976). According to WWW Snooker, it was a break of 146 (1 brown, 1 green, 5 pinks and 10 blacks).[1]
Higgins has been married twice and had one daughter with his first wife Cara and a son and a daughter with his ex-wife Lynn.
[edit] Trivia
Alex Higgins appears at the end of Martha Grimes' mystery "Jerusalem Inn", which deals with Snooker a lot. He plays and wins three rounds against one of the book's main characters.
[edit] Tournament wins
[edit] Ranking wins
- World Championship - 1982
[edit] Other wins
- World Championship - 1972 (Did not become a ranking event until 1974)
- Canadian Open (1975, 1977)
- Benson & Hedges Masters - 1978, 1981
- Irish Masters - 1989
- Coral UK Championship - 1983 (The UK Championship did not become a ranking event until 1984.)
- World Doubles - 1984 (with Jimmy White)
- World Cup - 1985, 1986, 1987 with Ireland team
- Irish Professional Championship - 1972, 1978, 1979, 1983, 1989
- Mosconi Cup - 1995 Ryder Cup style 9-ball pool event, against Team USA
[edit] References
- Borrows, B., The Hurricane: The Turbulent Life & Times of Alex Higgins (London, 2002)
- Hennessey, J., Eye of the Hurricane: The Alex Higgins Story (Shropshire, 2001)
- Higgins, A. and Francis, T., Alex Through the Looking Glass (London, 1986)
