Tributes paid to the Hurricane

Alex Higgins
12 April 2012

"People's champion" Alex Higgins was remembered at a service of thanksgiving at St Anne's Church of Ireland Cathedral in Belfast on Monday.

Fellow snooker player and friend Jimmy White led the tributes to "Hurricane" Higgins but was overcome by emotion and needed help reading out his statement. Past and present stars of the game including Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty, Willie Thorne, Shaun Murphy and John Virgo attended.

The statement from White said: "He was mind-blowing. He did things I'd never seen before. He was The Hurricane. I will miss him to the end."

Higgins, 61, died last month after a long battle with throat cancer and alcohol. He was a twice world champion from Northern Ireland who graced the green baize with flair and talent.

A tearful White helped carry the coffin of the troubled snooker genius who was found dead in a flat in Belfast.

A floral tribute outside the church read: "The People's Champion."

Following a funeral in the family home in Roden Street in the south of the city, a cortege led by a horse drawn carriage wound its way through the centre of Belfast.

Hundreds who had gathered in the Sandy Row area, where Higgins grew up and died, applauded as the procession passed.

White added: "Only a year ago Alex was talking about playing again and coming on the road with me. It angers me that he never listened to anyone, close friends or family, but that was Alex he was an individual, his own man - he was The Hurricane."

"I travelled the world with him and playing Alex wherever you played he always gave 100% no matter what the situation."

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