Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins will be remembered for his fast and furious maverick style of play, endearing him to a generation of Snooker fans and bringing the game to a wider audience during the eighties when the game peaked in popularity through live television coverage.

Having won the World Championship in 1972, Higgins repeated the triumph ten years later in 1982. The image of the Irishman hugging his wife and daughter with tears rolling down his face after the 1982 final will stay with fans forever.

Higgins was recently seen as a shadow of his former self, thin and toothless, he was reported to be in Spain for dental surgery which was declined to his poor condition.

The years of heavy smoking and drug abuse as well as his uncontrollable gambling finally caught up with Higgins, but he will be remembered by fans for his genius on the Snooker table.

Alex Higgins – 18th March 1949 – 24th July 2010

John Higgins done well to even make the final.  After beating Michael Holt in the first round 10-5, he had two very close encounters with Jamie Cope and then Mark Selby to reach the semi-final.  Both matches were decided by the final frames.

It was then the turn of Mark Allen, who had beaten the favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan in the second round.  After a good start Higgins set up a very comfortable 13-3 lead but had to show nerves of steel, as Allen fought back.  Higgins eventually won 17-13.

So, if John Higgins had no resilience left for the final, it would have been understandable.  But alas, Higgins played a well measured game and took his chances when they fell to him.  The 18-9 scoreline makes it sound easier than it was.  Shaun Mahoney pushed Higgins all the way

This World Snooker Championship victory means John Higgins equals Ronnie O’Sullivan and the late John Spencer with three world titles to his name.  But considering Higgins is at the peak of his game and still only 33 years old, he certainly has time to catch Steve Davis and Ray Reardon (each with six titles) and fellow Scotsman, Stephen Hendry, who holds the record with seven World Championship titles.

Before this year’s World Championship began at The Crucible, Ronnie O’Sullivan said only John Higgins or himself could win the title.  How right he was!

Stephen Hendry was the youngest player to win the Snooker World Championship at the age of 21, back in 1990.  Since then he has won the title no less than six times, the last of which was in 1999 against Mark Williams.

Englishman, Shaun Murphy on the other hand was the Snooker World Champion in 2005 and is the current UK Snooker Champion.

The quarter final match resumes today with Shaun Murphy leading Stephen Hendry 9-7.

Before the start of the 2009 Snooker World Championship, Ronnie O’Sullivan was in hyper confident mood when he predicted the winner would be either John Higgins or himself.  But after O’ Sullivan’s shock defeat to Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen 13 frames to 11 in the 2nd round last Saturday, Allen is currently beating Ryan Day of Wales 9-7.

In the other quarter final matches, John Higgins and Mark Selby are all square (4-4) in a tight encounter, while Australia’s Neil Robertson is beating Scotland’s Stephen Maguire 5-3.

All quarter finals resume today and are the best of 25 frames.