Alex Higgins: The Life And The Funeral In Pictures

ALEX Higgins, the Hurricane who lived an admirably misspent life on the snooker baize and betting shops lawns, was laid to rest in Belfast. They came to salute a local hero. Someone called him the ‘People’s Champion’. It’s a sentimental turns of phrase for the life of a sporting champion who made the heart beat a little faster.

The Funeral:

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Crowds look on as the coffin of Alex Higgins is carried from St Anne's Cathedral, Belfast, where his funeral service took place.

We looked on as Jimmy White, the Whirlwind, carried the body of Alex Higgins down Belfast’s Donegal Road to St Anne’s Cathedral. It was fitting.

In 1984, White lost to Steve Davis in the World Championships final. Your writer was hooked on Higgins’ heir apparent. School took a backseat. White played truant to play the game. I played truant to watch it on the telly.

White would go on to lose in the final five times on the bounce between 1990 and 1994. He never won it.

If sport is about the glory and tragedy, then the snooker played by Higgins and White was among the greatest sport of all.

RIP Alex Higgins. Your nerves, skill and wit were the stuff of life…

His Life

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The new World Snooker Champion, Alex Higgins being saluted by his baby daughter Lauren with his wife Lynne, after last nights's nail-biting battle against six-times champion Ray Reardon at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre. * Higgins holds the trophy for the second time having won it ten years ago.

Anorak

Posted: 2nd, August 2010 | In: Key Posts, Sports Comments (2) | TrackBack | Permalink