Higgins deserved better care: O’Sullivan

LONDON: Former snooker world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan believes Alex Higgins deserved better treatment from the sport after his career finished.

Higgins died of throat cancer in Belfast aged 61 on Saturday after fighting the disease for more than a decade.

The Northern Irishman was one of snooker’s most flamboyant and ground-breaking talents and is still fondly remembered for his epic battles with the likes of Steve Davis in the 1980s.

O’Sullivan, who grew up watching Higgins on television and later played against him, believes his idol’s role in transforming snooker into a mainstream sport should have been rewarded with financial assistance when he was in need in his later years.

“If Alex Higgins was a golfer I think he’d have probably been a multi-millionaire in his ending days because I do think they look after their top sportsmen a bit better,” said O’Sullivan.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 27^th, 2010.