Alex Higgins was quick in the 70s and 80s and played adventurous attacking snooker. Alex was not a robot he took risks and entertained the crowd. I met alex on two occassions and he was perfectly well behaved. I met Higgins at an exhibition and he played extra frames. I also love Hendry and played him at an exhibition he didn't play an extra single frame and charged a small boy 5 pounds for his autograph. Give me Alex any day! Alex is dead why malign me. Yes he sinned but don't we all. The people's champion was pure box office!
Hendry's era, it has to be said, didn't have the strength in depth as Davis's in the 80s when snooker was at it's peak. Davis would've had the edge over Hendry in their respective primes. Davis had to battle for his 6. Only Jimmy White was a challenge for Hendry.
@@tomsawyer5904 No, he gave it to a kids foundation, as he regularly did. Higgins missed so many shots and lost matches he cud have won but wanted to be loved. That gets u 2 World Titles, being attacking AND professional gets you 7!! Hendry/Davis, Ronnie, Terry Higgins top 4 ever. Alex wud be behind Williams and probably Jimmy White if Hendry hadn't been around.
Alex was very graceful towards stephen and his words were proved right. But watching that, what a thrill and i thank the person who put this video up. I could not help but want alex to win. I did not no the final result so it was engrossing to watch. 4-0 down and 5-2 down to come through and win. Hendry had his chances but in front of this irish home crowd alex the " hurricane " higgins brought it home. Brilliant final.
One of Alex's greatest tournament wins - surely! Irish Masters - I never had the opportunity to watch it, but heard there were some brilliant matches involving the likes of Alex and Jimmy.
I don't think I've ever heard that kind of atmosphere in any snooker match....it was like a football match as Alex sunk those winning balls. Gave me goosebumps
Hendry's play at this time was absolutely beautiful. He wasn't quite as dominant as he'd become in a couple years, but even so, for Alex to beat him here was a remarkable achievement.
Not the greatest player of all time but the most exciting.watched this plenty of times and will never stop watching it unbelievable atmosphere.there only one people's champion.
I watched Hendry on TV in his peak playiing years. Great to have youtube have these matches. I heard of Higgins being People's champion. I know better why. I wonder if Hendry's will be equalled in his 7 WC wins.
@@franktheawaken7169 ronnie has equalled and know where your coming from amazing achievement now will he manage 8 Ronnie is not only incredibly good its amazing how incredible he is at his age and instead of dipping with age has got from superb to even better and looking like he will never dip And like alex higgins they both could have achieved more alex going for impossible shots to entertain the crowd and anyone who does that will make occassionall mistakes and loose frames and his drinking antics etc would of held him back a little as well Ronnie with his mood swings he is so good he really should of over taking hendry easily long ago but due to his mood swings, but with all this he has broken some of hendrys records and equalled his 7 WC At his age group he is still untouchable even the best players say he is the best even hendry himself But alex was and is up there with the best for definate, i wonder how much more he would have achieved if he kept himself under control from the drinking etc He still done well with all this but still makes you wonder how much more he would have achieved with all the variables
Huge respect between both of them. Hendry attended Alex's funeral and said he was the only big player that would practice with him when he was young, also like Murphy he said none of them would have a living if it wasn't for alex
Alex wins is even more remarkable when you consider what Stephen Hendry was doing to Steve Davis at around this time. Alex never had a great record against Steve and yet he defied all odds here. Amazing.
Alex had a unique cueing style compared to most players, more of a jabber of the cue ball when you compare that to stephen with his deft touch. Yes alex had his faults but when he was good he was a real joy to watch.
Agreed, he had a minuscule backswing on the pressure shots and just kinda stabbed forwards. Probably because he knew he was weaving all over the place. He took very poor care of himself though and seemed to feel that eating was optional. Most players would do well to lose weight, he would have done well to put on 25 pounds.
ALEX HIGGINS THE GREATEST SNOOKER PLAYER OF ALL TIME IS HUNGER &PASSION FOR EVERY SHOT WILL NEVER BE REPEATED RIP ALEX INTO THE LOVING&CARING ARMS OF OUR JESUS AMEN
i was 9 when i saw this on the box with my dad...i can still remember it well. for some reason i think Alex drank milk throughout the tournament. great memories
Alex spoke with so much respect for Hendry, you could see in Hendry's face 1:58:25 that he appreciated compliments from The Great Alexander Hurricane Higgins
no he didnt mate- he went to funeral but wasnt a poll bearer. its on youtube. I still think your right when you said he respected Alex though- Alex was so magnanimous in victory- but not so in defeat. But of course Hendry respected him- everyone in snooker did- envy, respect but also probably bitterness and anger at how he died as well. R.I.P. Higgy- gone but never forgotten.
I remember the irish masters snooker championships live from Goffs in co. Kildare They were on during the 80s and 90s When i would come home from school they would be on the tv 📺 They were great 👍 👌 The benson and hedges masters snooker competition was fab 👌
Makes you proud to be from Belfast when u look at some of the genius sportmen who were from here, like George Best and Alex Higgins. Imagine how good both would have been if not alcoholics! Legends though.
Foremost......Alex was a crowd pleaser....that cost him at least 4 more world crowns......what he naturally had was the best timing of striking the game has ever seen......that's what was genius about Alex.
To think Alex Higgins beat a force as great as Stephen Hendry in a final nearly 20 years after he won the world title!! He transcended snooker and the generation he was from. It goes to show not only how good he was but how much he could have won had he stayed on the straight and narrow. Incredible player.x
Watching this in stages - it's a really good match! It's great watching Alex (wish there was more footage of him on youtube) - but just seen frame 12, and it was a real pleasure to watch Hendry in action. Did he get less fluid as he got older? (Will have to look at some more of him when I get the time.) Great upload anyways, many thanks!
Believe it or not, in 1989 Hendry was already a slower player than he used to be...He was just as fast as Ronnie when he started out as a pro but slowed his pace a little bit down towards the end of the 80's to become the youngest world champion ever in 1990. I guess he started observing the table a second longer and weighing his options a little longer as his experience grew. Anyway, many belief that slowing his pace a little bit down, was essential for Hendry in becoming the winning machine that he was.
Alex was a one-off, a cue action that would make Joe Davis weep, and so many nervous ticks. He looked, and was, brittle and fragile, but on this night he reached deep within his reserves of talent and determination and pulled out a memorable victory against one of the all time greats of the game.
According to his autobiography he never received the prize money, one of the reasons for his public outburst the year after saying the game was corrupt and then announced his retirement when he got knocked out in the first round of the World Championships. A great talent nonetheless.
@@koenhughes9267 I thought it was the UK championships where he didnt get the prize money. Or maybe even after he lost a match through playing really bad and the organisers where annoyed because he put bums on seats. Its a long long time since I read it.
@@stevemonks4528 , You might be right with that also but as I said, its in Alex's autobiography "My Story", the 1989 Irish Masters was his last tournament win and he never saw a penny of the prize money.
@@koenhughes9267 The authorities in snooker where harsh with Alex because he was a loose cannon. Its why Myself and millions of snooker fans loved him. They seemed happy when he was swelling the coffers in ticket sales, like Ronnie does now and then treated him poorly when he inevitably acted up a bit.
@@stevemonks4528 Alex Higgins was a typical Irishman, neurotic, ill tempered, unreliable and he had a problem with the sauce, but a genius all the same and so he got away with his troublesome predicaments because as you say he put bums on seats but when he thought he was bigger than the sport and could get away with putting the game in disrepute the authorities made an example of him, though they weren't completely innocent of misconduct themselves, bottom line was he was his own savior and his own worst enemy like the rest of us and its just a shame that he didn't cherish himself more and take care of himself more, but it cant be helped now, he deserves his rest anyway.
When I hear Ronnie O'Sullivan bring up Alex Higgins randomly he says he's more like Higgins than Davis and that if he was watching snooker throughout the years as a fan that he probably wouldn't have picked himself because he's to in and out of form like alex Higgins basically if they were at there best they'd win almost every single match unless luck intervenes and when you watch Higgins in form it looks alot like that with him also.He could be knocked out of every tournament throughout the year but turn up and win the world championship.Thats why the likes of Higgins then white and now O Sullivan have been the fans favorite because they can be so good and yet you never know what is next with them. Heart on there sleeves players. Rip Higgins.
Alex had been around nearly 20 years on the UK scene at this point. 20 years of drinking 30 units of alcohol on average every day. Wonderful and tragic in equal measure.
Alex could battle thats for sure , his matches are like gold . He could have win so much more but would have probably not been as entertaining so it was best that he plated this way
Fred Cogley, Aonghus McAnally, Michael Lyster - great stuff. Alex so gracious in victory at end.. Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche mentioned at the end and all...
Everyone wanting a piece of Alex at the end the peoples champion but it must have been an unbelievable pressure what a player the likes we’ll never see again
What a match that was, so close..omg the blue..yeah I know what he means there. Good match and no it was not night night after that blue. Well three frames behind and well nothing to lose when you already behind really; fantastic stuff
Looking at all the people hugging him and touching him there at the end.... Where were they towards his final years when he was poor, alone and sad?? Goes to show how little people actually care when it truly matters.
notice how fluent Hendry's cue action was back then, so natural and fearless. As he got older the long pots eventually stopped going in just as a coach once said to me would happen. Hendry went to Griffiths and that natural cue action became less fluent with a long pause on the backswing. I'm not sure Griffiths was much help.
Ryan Garritty he's no longer around to ask unfortunately. My main point was the fluency in his action. Griffiths instilled a pause and it started to look rather robotic. For most people a pause in the backswing is a good thing but Hendry wasn't most people. Just my opinion.
I suppose Hendry must have thought there was something wrong with his game to approach Griffiths in the first place, but from what you've said, it did little to help.
Ryan Garritty well it did do a lot to help in 2002 he reached the world final and was just 2 frame away from winning an 8th title. He was also a lot more consistent in tournaments than he had been in the years previously before Griffiths became his coach
Hendry got "the yips" in his cue action before he'd even won his 7th title. That's what he was trying to sort out. But he never did and it completely crippled his career.
We Irish can be not the best of winners because after the match all because when being asked questions yer man said to Higgins you went 4 behind at one stage but were you only doing that to make us nervous,yes i know he was joking but the lad who had just lost the final was only 20 year old and there was nothing good being said about him but thank God Higgins gave hendry the respect by saying he's by far the best coming through and that he'd rather be in hendrys shoes because hendry still had 20 years ahead of him which was true and hendry a few months after this match won his first world championship and dominated by winning almost half of the trophies available until 96 and after 96 he made way for higgins Williams and O Sullivan because he did win one more major in 99 by winning his 7th world title and won his last tournament in 2005 so he had 6 years of trophy winning we're unlikely to ever see again and 9 years of winning the odd tournament here or there so that was 15 pretty good years because i think hendry possibly enjoyed the tournments he won from 2000-2005 because that's when he was wrote off so to beat any of the 3 in Higgins, O'Sullivan and Williams and win a trophy at the end of the week when he was supposed to be finished possible brought him more joy.I do feel a little bad for him when the cue he played his whole career with got broken on a flight in 01/02 because after that happened he won a few more tournaments up to 05 but if it hadn't happened i think he'd have won tournaments for another 3 or 4 years maybe 3 or 4 more tournaments he'd have won i believe.Great classic match this and fair play for putting it up mate.Rip Alex Higgins
I watched snooker from the very early days of pot black etc. when Alex Higgins, Jimmy White, Steve Davies, Terry Griffiths, Doug Mountjoy, Dennis Taylor etc. were playing, and I'm absolutely sure that the modern players are not up to the standard, (with a few exceptions like Judd Trump, with a very unfortunate surname, Neil Robertson and Ronnie O'Sullivan etc.) of those early pioneers of the game. I watched a recently completed British open final between Mark Williams and Gary Wilson, and parts of that match was like watching grass grow.
One of the greatest to watch,but no way the greatest of all time that title goes to Ronnie closely followed by Hendry. In fact the quality in general now is far better than it was in Alex's day,he is known for his personality and the way he played the game at a time when all the rest were boring percentage players not for being the best.
great win for alex,beat a lot of top players on the way, only down side was he had to play a qualifying match for world champs next day with Darren morgan, and we all know how that went
+Hen Smithers hello Hen, I met Alex in 1976, I was a snooker freak, from the first touch of the cue ball on the break I accidentally made a red on the break, it was a soft break shot I ran the table 141 points, the break was completed in 3 min. 32 seconds according to the fellow recording the table time. I am saying this so you can imagine how intense me and my friends were in Toronto about snooker. Alex sat with me and introduced himself, he asked if I would like to practice with him, then it started, hundreds of people at the CNE would surround us as he started running perfect game after perfect game, sometimes back to back, usually 2 or 3 each session for 5 days our first week together, people were asking me for my autograph, their was a breeze around the table he moved so fast, and I spotted the balls as quickly as possible, he could make his wind alter the path of the cue ball, he was doing a tango with the table, his touch was so delicate it was sensual, he could see the hit closer than anyone ever, the ball was not geometric to him, it was a sphere, he was playing in a different dimension than anyone ever has. He was gifted and he knew it, and he needed to be treated as the royalty he knew God had made him, Alex was born to be the prince of snooker, no on else has been so able to softly roll the cue ball to the exact perfect spot. I am the luckiest guy in the world to have 4 summers in a row spotting so many perfect games for him, he didn't care about winning, he cared about people's love for him, Ronnie is amazing, but is like a perfect geometric player, Alex was all touch. Alex was truly God's gift to snooker. May I say thank you for you Alex. Love is God. Love Rules. Alex showed his love of his fans, that's what he lived for.
Alex was a sound guy he lived his final days around my street - he signed a nice painting for me. He did not like people who got on like an idiot around him - idiots would shout in his face and he would lose his rag with them but deep down he was a sound guy.
Nathan jones obvious your a Higgins hater, I agree he was not as fastest as his name gives, but in days of the 70s and mid 80s he was, very fluent and fast,if you like it or not alex Higgins helped more than most to put snooker in the public eye,
@@rootykazooty351 Completely agree with you. Alex was not carrying the torch at all. If he ever had it, he tossed it immediately in the crowd for anyone else to carry it, as his hands were already full carrying bottles, lol
Alex Higgins was quick in the 70s and 80s and played adventurous attacking snooker. Alex was not a robot he took risks and entertained the crowd. I met alex on two occassions and he was perfectly well behaved. I met Higgins at an exhibition and he played extra frames. I also love Hendry and played him at an exhibition he didn't play an extra single frame and charged a small boy 5 pounds for his autograph. Give me Alex any day! Alex is dead why malign me. Yes he sinned but don't we all. The people's champion was pure box office!
Daniel McNeil did Hendry accept check？
Hendry's era, it has to be said, didn't have the strength in depth as Davis's in the 80s when snooker was at it's peak. Davis would've had the edge over Hendry in their respective primes. Davis had to battle for his 6. Only Jimmy White was a challenge for Hendry.
@@tomsawyer5904 No, he gave it to a kids foundation, as he regularly did. Higgins missed so many shots and lost matches he cud have won but wanted to be loved. That gets u 2 World Titles, being attacking AND professional gets you 7!! Hendry/Davis, Ronnie, Terry Higgins top 4 ever. Alex wud be behind Williams and probably Jimmy White if Hendry hadn't been around.
And Selby for sure...
Sin is bullshit!
Alex was very graceful towards stephen and his words were proved right. But watching that, what a thrill and i thank the person who put this video up. I could not help but want alex to win. I did not no the final result so it was engrossing to watch. 4-0 down and 5-2 down to come through and win. Hendry had his chances but in front of this irish home crowd alex the " hurricane " higgins brought it home. Brilliant final.
One of Alex's greatest tournament wins - surely! Irish Masters - I never had the opportunity to watch it, but heard there were some brilliant matches involving the likes of Alex and Jimmy.
I don't think I've ever heard that kind of atmosphere in any snooker match....it was like a football match as Alex sunk those winning balls. Gave me goosebumps
I think Stephen hendry was very kind to Alex in this match,I think Alex was a hero of his.
Hendry's play at this time was absolutely beautiful. He wasn't quite as dominant as he'd become in a couple years, but even so, for Alex to beat him here was a remarkable achievement.
Agree.. and it took all the passion Alex could muster!
And Alex wasn't quite good as he used to be. Late 80's, is a downfall Alex.
Hendry was hero smitten at the time against the genius.
Hendry's cueing was a thing of utter beauty.
Not the greatest player of all time but the most exciting.watched this plenty of times and will never stop watching it unbelievable atmosphere.there only one people's champion.
Very rare that Alex would compliment his opponents but he did this time, and how prophetic his words turned our to be about Hendrys future.
I watched Hendry on TV in his peak playiing years. Great to have youtube have these matches.
I heard of Higgins being People's champion. I know better why. I wonder if Hendry's will be equalled in his 7 WC wins.
@@franktheawaken7169 ronnie has equalled and know where your coming from amazing achievement now will he manage 8
Ronnie is not only incredibly good its amazing how incredible he is at his age and instead of dipping with age has got from superb to even better and looking like he will never dip
And like alex higgins they both could have achieved more alex going for impossible shots to entertain the crowd and anyone who does that will make occassionall mistakes and loose frames and his drinking antics etc would of held him back a little as well
Ronnie with his mood swings he is so good he really should of over taking hendry easily long ago but due to his mood swings, but with all this he has broken some of hendrys records and equalled his 7 WC
At his age group he is still untouchable even the best players say he is the best even hendry himself
But alex was and is up there with the best for definate, i wonder how much more he would have achieved if he kept himself under control from the drinking etc
He still done well with all this but still makes you wonder how much more he would have achieved with all the variables
He won. If he lost he wouldn't be so gracious
He was a very bad loser as his career went on
Huge respect between both of them. Hendry attended Alex's funeral and said he was the only big player that would practice with him when he was young, also like Murphy he said none of them would have a living if it wasn't for alex
wow. thanks for uploading. Amazing to see Alex hammering pressure cooker balls in. So entertaining to watch.
Wow . This was one era (Alex) still fighting another era (Stephen). It was brilliant to see. Final flames from Alex. RIP.
Love the video quality, as the ball vanishes on some shots before going in the pocket lol.
R.I.P Alex... My favourite over the years.
The late great Alex higgins thanks for the memories growing up in the 80s 😎👍🎱
I miss the 80s,
Alex wins is even more remarkable when you consider what Stephen Hendry was doing to Steve Davis at around this time. Alex never had a great record against Steve and yet he defied all odds here. Amazing.
Higgins - one of my fave players ever
Yes I agree with you on that he was my no1 favourite player of all time fellow by Jimmy White/Rocket Ron
This happened years ago and I was cheering for Alex to win.
Alex had a unique cueing style compared to most players, more of a jabber of the cue ball when you compare that to stephen with his deft touch. Yes alex had his faults but when he was good he was a real joy to watch.
Agreed, he had a minuscule backswing on the pressure shots and just kinda stabbed forwards. Probably because he knew he was weaving all over the place. He took very poor care of himself though and seemed to feel that eating was optional. Most players would do well to lose weight, he would have done well to put on 25 pounds.
Higgins could barely stay stood up.
@@dvidclapperton yet one of the most gifted players u will ever c
Makes me feel old. This was 28 years ago.
ALEX HIGGINS THE GREATEST SNOOKER PLAYER OF ALL TIME IS HUNGER &PASSION FOR EVERY SHOT WILL NEVER BE REPEATED RIP ALEX INTO THE LOVING&CARING ARMS OF OUR JESUS AMEN
Are having a laugh he was crap
@@sophiemac4614 Your comment is vile and disgusting
Wonderful match and great to see snooker about to return to this fabulous venue after all these years.
Those old footages are so much better to watch than todays boring robotic snooker.rip higgins
Trump isn't too bad, but the 80s were the days for characters, higgin, white the darts Eric, Jockey and tennis McEnroe
I was that that final all those years ago happy days RIP Alex.
Two great chaps whose play doesn't compel constant tapping fast forward.
I fat forwarded Hendry tbh, Life's too short
4:44 It really is remarkable to watch how gently this man strokes balls 🤣
I would pay big money to watch this match live
Wow what a treat thanks for upload
Hendry is a real gentleman and alex is the godfather pf snooker
i was 9 when i saw this on the box with my dad...i can still remember it well. for some reason i think Alex drank milk throughout the tournament. great memories
Super popular and a legend of a player, Alex is. That being said, the man had a style of play build that was build in a basement of a bar.
Alex Higgins. Definitely a one off. Will never be another like him .
Alex spoke with so much respect for Hendry, you could see in Hendry's face 1:58:25 that he appreciated compliments from The Great Alexander Hurricane Higgins
+Sean Mac hendry disliked higgins...
+paranormalfrank no,he liked Alex and attended his funeral
no he didnt mate- he went to funeral but wasnt a poll bearer. its on youtube. I still think your right when you said he respected Alex though- Alex was so magnanimous in victory- but not so in defeat. But of course Hendry respected him- everyone in snooker did- envy, respect but also probably bitterness and anger at how he died as well. R.I.P. Higgy- gone but never forgotten.
drover110 ye you're right
pall
The Tour of Flanders was exceptional this year!
Brilliant upload - thank you!
still limping following his 'fall' from an upstairs window at home too!!
Higgins won this match with a limp after falling from a second floor window and breaking his ankle
Alex higgins prediction was more than right
My two favourite snooker players...
This was the year he jumped out his bedroom window and broke his ankle or sprained it!
You gotta love my snooker hero he loved snooker! Rip Alex
I remember the irish masters snooker championships live from Goffs in co. Kildare
They were on during the 80s and 90s
When i would come home from school they would be on the tv 📺
They were great 👍 👌
The benson and hedges masters snooker competition was fab 👌
Makes you proud to be from Belfast when u look at some of the genius sportmen who were from here, like George Best and Alex Higgins. Imagine how good both would have been if not alcoholics! Legends though.
Some brilliant shots by both players
Foremost......Alex was a crowd pleaser....that cost him at least 4 more world crowns......what he naturally had was the best timing of striking the game has ever seen......that's what was genius about Alex.
AHHH, Benson and Hedges, and VHS tapes.. What a world we've left behind!
@MichaelKingsfordGray kiss this 🍑
Alex had great bottle!
Alex was right on with Stephen.
that crowd 😛 they loved him.
To think Alex Higgins beat a force as great as Stephen Hendry in a final nearly 20 years after he won the world title!! He transcended snooker and the generation he was from. It goes to show not only how good he was but how much he could have won had he stayed on the straight and narrow. Incredible player.x
It looks like Alex Higgins is walking with a limp here & won this match with a broken foot
I watched it as if it happened live ... my hands are almost shaking as i'm writing this ...
unreal performance by Alex ...
Really love Master crowd atmosphere
That was Super Brilliant ... Thk Q for the upload ◉‿◉
I remember those days people used to raise their arms and cheer at the end of finals. Not a phone to be seen.
Watching this in stages - it's a really good match! It's great watching Alex (wish there was more footage of him on youtube) - but just seen frame 12, and it was a real pleasure to watch Hendry in action. Did he get less fluid as he got older? (Will have to look at some more of him when I get the time.)
Great upload anyways, many thanks!
Believe it or not, in 1989 Hendry was already a slower player than he used to be...He was just as fast as Ronnie when he started out as a pro but slowed his pace a little bit down towards the end of the 80's to become the youngest world champion ever in 1990. I guess he started observing the table a second longer and weighing his options a little longer as his experience grew. Anyway, many belief that slowing his pace a little bit down, was essential for Hendry in becoming the winning machine that he was.
Alex was a one-off, a cue action that would make Joe Davis weep, and so many nervous ticks. He looked, and was, brittle and fragile, but on this night he reached deep within his reserves of talent and determination and pulled out a memorable victory against one of the all time greats of the game.
Best player I ever seen. The GOAT.
I remember watching this late on a Sunday night I think, must have been the highlights
A great audience, who enjoyed a great match
I really like how Alex Higgins was playing side ...
Love Alex but you just know The £32500 would have been lost on the horses lol. !! My fave snooker player of all time by a mile.
According to his autobiography he never received the prize money, one of the reasons for his public outburst the year after saying the game was corrupt and then announced his retirement when he got knocked out in the first round of the World Championships. A great talent nonetheless.
@@koenhughes9267 I thought it was the UK championships where he didnt get the prize money. Or maybe even after he lost a match through playing really bad and the organisers where annoyed because he put bums on seats. Its a long long time since I read it.
@@stevemonks4528 , You might be right with that also but as I said, its in Alex's autobiography "My Story", the 1989 Irish Masters was his last tournament win and he never saw a penny of the prize money.
@@koenhughes9267 The authorities in snooker where harsh with Alex because he was a loose cannon. Its why Myself and millions of snooker fans loved him. They seemed happy when he was swelling the coffers in ticket sales, like Ronnie does now and then treated him poorly when he inevitably acted up a bit.
@@stevemonks4528 Alex Higgins was a typical Irishman, neurotic, ill tempered, unreliable and he had a problem with the sauce, but a genius all the same and so he got away with his troublesome predicaments because as you say he put bums on seats but when he thought he was bigger than the sport and could get away with putting the game in disrepute the authorities made an example of him, though they weren't completely innocent of misconduct themselves, bottom line was he was his own savior and his own worst enemy like the rest of us and its just a shame that he didn't cherish himself more and take care of himself more, but it cant be helped now, he deserves his rest anyway.
4:44 - "And it really is remarkable to watch just how gently this man strokes the balls."
Dean
There’s me thinking I was the only one who heard that 😂😂😂
When I hear Ronnie O'Sullivan bring up Alex Higgins randomly he says he's more like Higgins than Davis and that if he was watching snooker throughout the years as a fan that he probably wouldn't have picked himself because he's to in and out of form like alex Higgins basically if they were at there best they'd win almost every single match unless luck intervenes and when you watch Higgins in form it looks alot like that with him also.He could be knocked out of every tournament throughout the year but turn up and win the world championship.Thats why the likes of Higgins then white and now O Sullivan have been the fans favorite because they can be so good and yet you never know what is next with them. Heart on there sleeves players. Rip Higgins.
30:49 The presenter says "Alex Higgins establishes a thirty - love lead"
Wrong sport mate......! "TAXI!"
Alex had been around nearly 20 years on the UK scene at this point. 20 years of drinking 30 units of alcohol on average every day. Wonderful and tragic in equal measure.
How did he even manage to stay on his feet?
Alex could battle thats for sure , his matches are like gold .
He could have win so much more but would have probably not been as entertaining so it was best that he plated this way
Fred Cogley, Aonghus McAnally, Michael Lyster - great stuff.
Alex so gracious in victory at end.. Sean Kelly and Stephen Roche mentioned at the end and all...
Everyone wanting a piece of Alex at the end the peoples champion but it must have been an unbelievable pressure what a player the likes we’ll never see again
Самый великий снукерист Алекс, браво!!!
A well disciplined crowd...not a SINGLE mobile phone went off to disrupt the players during the whole game.😊
Alex at his best with a sore foot limping around, potting & winning against a sharp young Hendry👍
What a match that was, so close..omg the blue..yeah I know what he means there. Good match and no it was not night night after that blue. Well three frames behind and well nothing to lose when you already behind really; fantastic stuff
Looking at all the people hugging him and touching him there at the end.... Where were they towards his final years when he was poor, alone and sad?? Goes to show how little people actually care when it truly matters.
Strange comment. What exactly could or should they have done to help him?
notice how fluent Hendry's cue action was back then, so natural and fearless. As he got older the long pots eventually stopped going in just as a coach once said to me would happen. Hendry went to Griffiths and that natural cue action became less fluent with a long pause on the backswing. I'm not sure Griffiths was much help.
Why did the coach say that ? Why should getting older have put a stop to that fluency ?
Ryan Garritty he's no longer around to ask unfortunately. My main point was the fluency in his action. Griffiths instilled a pause and it started to look rather robotic. For most people a pause in the backswing is a good thing but Hendry wasn't most people. Just my opinion.
I suppose Hendry must have thought there was something wrong with his game to approach Griffiths in the first place, but from what you've said, it did little to help.
Ryan Garritty well it did do a lot to help in 2002 he reached the world final and was just 2 frame away from winning an 8th title. He was also a lot more consistent in tournaments than he had been in the years previously before Griffiths became his coach
Hendry got "the yips" in his cue action before he'd even won his 7th title. That's what he was trying to sort out. But he never did and it completely crippled his career.
We Irish can be not the best of winners because after the match all because when being asked questions yer man said to Higgins you went 4 behind at one stage but were you only doing that to make us nervous,yes i know he was joking but the lad who had just lost the final was only 20 year old and there was nothing good being said about him but thank God Higgins gave hendry the respect by saying he's by far the best coming through and that he'd rather be in hendrys shoes because hendry still had 20 years ahead of him which was true and hendry a few months after this match won his first world championship and dominated by winning almost half of the trophies available until 96 and after 96 he made way for higgins Williams and O Sullivan because he did win one more major in 99 by winning his 7th world title and won his last tournament in 2005 so he had 6 years of trophy winning we're unlikely to ever see again and 9 years of winning the odd tournament here or there so that was 15 pretty good years because i think hendry possibly enjoyed the tournments he won from 2000-2005 because that's when he was wrote off so to beat any of the 3 in Higgins, O'Sullivan and Williams and win a trophy at the end of the week when he was supposed to be finished possible brought him more joy.I do feel a little bad for him when the cue he played his whole career with got broken on a flight in 01/02 because after that happened he won a few more tournaments up to 05 but if it hadn't happened i think he'd have won tournaments for another 3 or 4 years maybe 3 or 4 more tournaments he'd have won i believe.Great classic match this and fair play for putting it up mate.Rip Alex Higgins
Gee you forget just how good Alex was in his prime!
Higgins....The Stu Ungar of snooker. R.i.P.
Alex higgins, genius, legend, superstar the greatest of all time. Rip.
Great reference
Do you happen to have what was on the tape after the end of this? I could see the start of a Network 2 ad just at the end of the video.
Goffs was a great place for snooker.. I remember it well..👍
best ref ever!!!!
1:01:41 "Thank you gentlemen. He knows it's his turn" Such a classy way to shut up the idiots.
One wonders what Joe Davis made of Higgins's technique... .
Stephen Hendry Was In Untouchable Mode!
and lost
The best ever
John Pullman calling Stephen Hendry Ian Hendry lol
Can't believe Alex won this with a limp and broken foot
On another note, how slow was that table?
Fred Cogley R.I.P.
The georgie best of snooker
I watched snooker from the very early days of pot black etc. when Alex Higgins, Jimmy White, Steve Davies, Terry Griffiths, Doug Mountjoy, Dennis Taylor etc. were playing, and I'm absolutely sure that the modern players are not up to the standard, (with a few exceptions like Judd Trump, with a very unfortunate surname, Neil Robertson and Ronnie O'Sullivan etc.) of those early pioneers of the game. I watched a recently completed British open final between Mark Williams and Gary Wilson, and parts of that match was like watching grass grow.
Christ, the audience will clap for any shot.
XD.
Just watching, listen again, they are all coughing their guts up.
Sponsored by Benson and hedges?? Hmm
Round of applause for a 7 break.
Quality not quantity.
This is whatnwe call "the people's champion".
Alex Higgins greatest snooker player of all time
One of the greatest to watch,but no way the greatest of all time that title goes to Ronnie closely followed by Hendry. In fact the quality in general now is far better than it was in Alex's day,he is known for his personality and the way he played the game at a time when all the rest were boring percentage players not for being the best.
Higgins win every major title 2 world championships 2 Masters an the 1983 UK championship
whos the guy at the end giving alex a lap dance?
I'm surprised that Stephen Hendry was player since 80' period and played with the Alex Higgin.
was a just starting out 89..Alex near the very end
great win for alex,beat a lot of top players on the way, only down side was he had to play a qualifying match for world champs next day with Darren morgan, and we all know how that went
christopher hazelton that's rough having to play a world qualifier next day
christopher hazelton yeah lost 10 8 , whoever arranged that was an idiot
Darren Morgan was never a title threat.
Morgan was no Wiliams.
@@dvidclapperton he still was a very good match player
amazing for Higgins to beat hendry really
+Hen Smithers hello Hen, I met Alex in 1976, I was a snooker freak, from the first touch of the cue ball on the break I accidentally made a red on the break, it was a soft break shot I ran the table 141 points, the break was completed in 3 min. 32 seconds according to the fellow recording the table time. I am saying this so you can imagine how intense me and my friends were in Toronto about snooker.
Alex sat with me and introduced himself, he asked if I would like to practice with him, then it started, hundreds of people at the CNE would surround us as
he started running perfect game after perfect game, sometimes back to back, usually 2 or 3 each session for 5 days our first week together, people were asking me for my autograph, their was a breeze around the table he moved so fast, and I spotted the balls as quickly as possible, he could make his wind alter the path of the cue ball, he was doing a tango with the table, his touch was so delicate it was sensual, he could see the hit closer than anyone ever, the ball was not geometric to him, it was a sphere, he was playing in a different dimension than anyone ever has.
He was gifted and he knew it, and he needed to be treated as the royalty he knew God had made him, Alex was born to be the prince of snooker, no on else has been so able to softly roll the cue ball to the exact perfect spot.
I am the luckiest guy in the world to have 4 summers in a row spotting so many perfect games for him, he didn't care about winning, he cared about people's love for him, Ronnie is amazing, but is like a perfect geometric player, Alex was all touch. Alex was truly God's gift to snooker.
May I say thank you for you Alex.
Love is God.
Love Rules.
Alex showed his love of his fans, that's what he lived for.
Alex was a sound guy he lived his final days around my street - he signed a nice painting for me. He did not like people who got on like an idiot around him - idiots would shout in his face and he would lose his rag with them but deep down he was a sound guy.
Hen Smithers especially while being drunk and on pot, and on one leg.
@@vincentbruce9833 what a brilliant tribute mate
Miss you Sandy.
You were simply beautiful. ❤🌹
Nathan jones obvious your a Higgins hater, I agree he was not as fastest as his name gives, but in days of the 70s and mid 80s he was, very fluent and fast,if you like it or not alex Higgins helped more than most to put snooker in the public eye,
Old fashioned, crap quality but good to watch.
Even with a gammy leg Alex still pulled it off.
Ah the old irish masters
Yes, one of the best tournaments
@@denisdaly1708 good old days
1:58:00 Higgins passing on the torch to Hendry.
TBF it wasn't Alex's torch to pass, it belonged to Steve Davis in the 1980's.
@@rootykazooty351 Completely agree with you. Alex was not carrying the torch at all. If he ever had it, he tossed it immediately in the crowd for anyone else to carry it, as his hands were already full carrying bottles, lol
how good was alex higgins under pressure
Greatest entertainer in the game by a country mile