‘He was genius, but there was also the other side’
TRIBUTES continued to flood in last night for the first true legend of snooker, Alex Higgins, who died on Saturday, aged 61, following a long battle with cancer.
With his enigmatic approach to the game, the ‘Hurricane’ became the first true bastion of ‘sexy snooker’, helping the raise the profile of the sport to a whole new level as snooker’s answer to fellow Northern Irishman George Best.
With 21 career titles, including the world championship in 1972 and 1982, Higgins rightly forms a part of snooker’s elite. But he had a darker side to his personality which threatened to overshadow his unquestionable talent.
In 1986, he was banned from five tournaments and fined £12,000 when he headbutted UK Championship tournament director Paul Hatherell. Four years later, he punched another official, Colin Randle, and threatened to have fellow countryman Dennis Taylor shot, prompting a ban for the whole of the following season.
By 1998, however, Higgins had become a heavy drinker and smoker who admitted to using cocaine, and underwent surgery for throat cancer, which eventually marked his decline.
World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn said: “You remember his genius, but also there was the other side. There was one occasion when he and I squared off against each other in my Romford office, when he said he was not coming back to finish a game I had paid him for.
Hearn, who managed Higgins’ big rival Steve Davis, added: “Alex asked me to manage him several times, but I said ‘you would be a nightmare, mate, we would end up rolling around in a backstreet killing each other’. But he never said a bad word against me, we had a mutual respect. Alex never let me down.”
Taylor also forgave Higgins for his previous misdemeanours, adding: “There was just something about the way that he played the game. There was a little bit of [John] McEnroe in there. There was always going to be a little bit of controversy.
“If he could get the referee going a little bit he seemed to be able to play better, if he caused a little bit of havoc sometimes. But that was Alex. That made him unique and I don’t think you’ll ever, ever see a player in the game of snooker like the great Alex Higgins.”