Alex Higgins wc80 vs Alex Higgins wc82

[147 Club]

personally i think higgins was unbeatable in the 1980 world championship and would have hammered thorburn had he played the way he had early on in the match. cant forget the 147 attempt against davis, which included some amazing shots.
of course he was briliant in 82, the 69 break and all that, but in my opinion he was a better player during the 1980 world championships

[alex_5525]

personally i think higgins was unbeatable in the 1980 world championship and would have hammered thorburn had he played the way he had early on in the match. cant forget the 147 attempt against davis, which included some amazing shots.
of course he was briliant in 82, the 69 break and all that, but in my opinion he was a better player during the 1980 world championships

Id agree with you as i was watching part of the 82 final recently and couldnt help notice how bad readon was playing. but tbh alex's 135 in the final frame was just insaine.

[CueAntW147]

Alex should have won the 1980 WC but got a little carried away as he wanted to win it in style so started playing a few shots & taking a few risks to please the crowd that he shouldn't have done really, but thats why we loved him.

By 1982 he'd learned to play a more conservative game really & refused some of the risky stuff, so i wouldn't say he was a better player as such in 1980 he just played a different way.

You have to remember 82 was the year of the semi with Jimmy and the do or die 69 break, and as been mentioned the 135 total clearance to win the final in style, but that was Alex not only did he want to win he wanted to entertain the crowd and win in style and this was the reason amongst other things why he probably didn't win as much as he should have done.

I think Clive Everton summed Alex's career up when he sad he was a player of great moments rather than consistant title wins like say Davis or Hendry, but its these great moments that we'll always remember.

[spike]

He certainly played with the style and flair that he was well known for at the 1980 World Championship than in 1982 say, though Alex played with (more self-control) throughout the 1982 World Championship.

From what I have seen of Alex from both the 1980 and 1982 World Championship, I would say there is little to choose between which Alex was the better, but imo I would say that the way Higgins was playing in the 1980 Championship seemed the more attacking and exciting to watch, even though he recklessly squandered a 9-5 lead in the final by playing one too many shots, for the entertainment of the Crucible crowd.

As a matter of interest, 1980 turned out to be one of Higgins best years as a pro:

Runner-Up - B&H Masters
Runner-Up - Wilson Classic
Runner-Up - World Championship
Winner - British Gold Cup
Winner - Tolly Cobbold Classic
Runner -Up - Coral UK Championship

[wildJONESEYE]

to be honest TV Cameras never really captured the Real Alex Higgins.

he was starting to go off the boil through Drink or whatever by the time Television got involved on the back of his Brilliance.

[cazmac1]

Higgins never had a game of snooker without a fag or a pint in his hand, yet he could still beat the best. I don't know about you but my potting go's after 3 pints. I think if higgins did not drink a smoke he would have won so much more.
RIP AH
Maybe not not as good as SH, but better to watch than any other player other then Jimmy White. The rest are just fillers.:snooker:

[spike]

Id agree with you as i was watching part of the 82 final recently and couldnt help notice how bad readon was playing. but tbh alex's 135 in the final frame was just insaine.

To be fair Reardon produced some good Snooker in that final, but errors started to creep in with his safety game when the match was well poised at 15-15. Couple that with the fact that Alex also raised his all-round game from that point, was always going to make Alex hard to beat, even against the great Ray Reardon. Reardon in an interview many years later, openly admitted that he thought he had the final won at 15-15..

[alex_5525]

To be fair Reardon produced some good Snooker in that final, but errors started to creep in with his safety game when the match was well poised at 15-15. Couple that with the fact that Alex also raised his all-round game from that point, was always going to make Alex hard to beat, even against the great Ray Reardon. Reardon in an interview many years later, openly admitted that he thought he had the final won at 15-15..

well i was watching the early stages of that match quite recently and deffinatly could see readon was struggling, but he did start playing slightly better later on. was still a very good match and will always be remembered as a classic.

[wildJONESEYE]

Higgins never had a game of snooker without a fag or a pint in his hand, yet he could still beat the best. I don't know about you but my potting go's after 3 pints. I think if higgins did not drink a smoke he would have won so much more.
RIP AH
Maybe not not as good as SH, but better to watch than any other player other then Jimmy White. The rest are just fillers.:snooker:

to watch Alex Higgins was head and shoulders above anyone and not only for his snooker either he was just mesmerizing to watch twitching, drinking, smoking tapping the table.

he was a one man soap opera.

[CueAntW147]

to watch Alex Higgins was head and shoulders above anyone and not only for his snooker either he was just mesmerizing to watch twitching, drinking, smoking tapping the table.

he was a one man soap opera.

Beautifully put !

As Steve Davis once said "Alex was more interesting in his chair than i was playing, once i played him and i was on a break yet everyone in the crowd was watching Alex in his chair i knew they were watching him becuase i was watching him as well ! "

[jb134]

I think he was better in 80. You can't take liberties with Thorburn. In 82 Higgins beat White, yes the 69 break was great but Jimmy bottled it at least 6 times in the match, he should have won about 16-9. Reardon was past his best and nearly won. David and Griffiths lost in first round etc.

In 1980 Higgins was the best player in the event by a mile and blew it but even by 1981 he was on the way down. It was only supreme ability that kept him competing another ten or so years.

Ps. IMO Brazil 1982 was better than Brazil 1970 but they never won the world cup.

[vmax4steve]

Not enough people, including Higgins, gave Thorburn the credit he deserved when he beat Higgins in that 1980 final. He made a lot of pressure clearances and thoroughly deserved his victory. It was to Higgins detriment that he took Thorburn lightly and continued to play the attacking snooker that carried him to the final even though it was obvious that when given chances, Thorburn was taking them.
As for 1982, I think Higgins was unstoppable that year as he was not only playing great snooker, but he had the run of the balls, as his match against Mountjoy proved, which IMO was one of the best matches I have seen. It had everything.

[wildJONESEYE]

Not enough people, including Higgins, gave Thorburn the credit he deserved when he beat Higgins in that 1980 final. He made a lot of pressure clearances and thoroughly deserved his victory. It was to Higgins detriment that he took Thorburn lightly and continued to play the attacking snooker that carried him to the final even though it was obvious that when given chances, Thorburn was taking them.
As for 1982, I think Higgins was unstoppable that year as he was not only playing great snooker, but he had the run of the balls, as his match against Mountjoy proved, which IMO was one of the best matches I have seen. It had everything.

After that match Alex Higgins changed his Game to some extent because the Alex i watched since 1981 was a Hard as nails wanting to win at all costs.

The Alex Higgins that took Thorburn lightly was the entertainer that played for the Buzz he got from the crowd.

[CueAntW147]

Well Alex himself said at the end the match with Cliff that " my old crowd pleasing bit came back again, i'm disappointed but i'll bounce back "

He always wanted to play the game with panache, and developed a nice safety game that pro longed his career a bit thinking about the game against hendry in the '89 Irish Masters, he did what he needed to do in order to win, but always threw some of the quick snappy stuff in over the years when in the mood.

See this link a nice 142 against Cliff in 85 enjoy !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eHQtRyB6q8 ends with break at 84

need this link as well to finish picks up break from 84

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5tCX_FBxD4

[spike]

It was to Higgins detriment that he took Thorburn lightly

Yes, that is true....though the two of them faced each other on a couple of occasions previously to the 1980 World Final. First round of the 1976 World Championship where Higgins just got over the line 15-14, and then beating Thorburn again in the final of the 1978 B&H Masters 7-5. So I suppose from Alex Higgins point of view he must have felt confident of another victory against his old rival come the World Final. Though all the time Thorburn's all-round game was improving, and was a better player by 1980 than compared say to the mid to late 1970s..