The Greatest Break In Snooker History

He's movie star handsome to boot!

Fantastic!

Greatest break in snooker is Alex Higgins 69 break vs Jimmy White 1982 World championships semi finals.
Jimmy White 1 frame from winning and up 59-0.
Jimmy would have probably destroyed Ray Reardon if he had gone on to the final.
Instead Alex pulls out this miracle break and Jimmy White would end up never winning a World Championship.

8BallWonderland said:

Greatest break in snooker is Alex Higgins 69 break vs Jimmy White 1982 World championships semi finals.
Jimmy White 1 frame from winning and up 59-0.
Jimmy would have probably destroyed Ray Reardon if he had gone on to the final.
Instead Alex pulls out this miracle break and Jimmy White would end up never winning a World Championship.

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agree about Higgins break. Also Higgins break is widely recognised as the greatest break in history. I have never heard a reputable snooker commentator or player say otherwise. Not just due to the difficulty but the pressure involved because if he missed a ball he would have lost the match against one of the best up and coming players in the world at the time in Jimmy and it was the semi final of the WC.

Conversely, although Ronnie's break was also pure genius it was done with no pressure of losing the match and against a far far inferior player in Price. In the snooker world Ronnie's break is referred to as the greatest maximum ever made, but not the greatest break.

Shame that these new modern articles get caught up in the hype of Ronnie's 147 and overshadow the achievements of players such as Higgins so that the younger generation doesn't get to hear about them. The article should be banged to rights for having 'The Greatest Break In Snooker History' in the title,without having any mention of Higgins break within the article. Even Ronnie himself acknowledges the superiority of Higgins break over all others in the face of the pressure, shots made and occasion.

This is Higgins break - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAO48WSZnRU

The first five shots of that run were all amazing. Higgins was England's version of Keith McCready. Keith won many games with miracle run-outs, instilling a sense of fear in many of the top players of his era. No lead was safe against Keith and they knew it.

I realize I don't have long time forum status cred, and will likely get flamed for this......
That's ok.

The Higgins break is incredibly overrated.
And I LOVE Hurricane! Grew up watching him on Pot Black televised in Australia and fanned my love of the game, and thought he was one of the most incredible shot makers you might ever see.

But in the break referenced, he makes one, just one, brilliant shot. The cut to the middle pocket.
The red along the end rail is also good, but I make that shot myself often enough to not consider it exceptional.

The thing that hurts the break most is his extremely poor cue ball control for many of the opening pots. He makes every subsequent pot more difficult than is necessary, yet none are jaw dropping as they play out. Just one shot after the other showing a lack of finesse, but a natural talent for making a shot when needed.

It's ok, but I've seen innumerable better breaks, pressure of a major championship notwithstanding.

flinchfree said:

I realize I don't have long time forum status cred, and will likely get flamed for this......
That's ok.

The Higgins break is incredibly overrated.
And I LOVE Hurricane! Grew up watching him on Pot Black televised in Australia and fanned my love of the game, and thought he was one of the most incredible shot makers you might ever see.

But in the break referenced, he makes one, just one, brilliant shot. The cut to the middle pocket.
The red along the end rail is also good, but I make that shot myself often enough to not consider it exceptional.

The thing that hurts the break most is his extremely poor cue ball control for many of the opening pots. He makes every subsequent pot more difficult than is necessary, yet none are jaw dropping as they play out. Just one shot after the other showing a lack of finesse, but a natural talent for making a shot when needed.

It's ok, but I've seen innumerable better breaks, pressure of a major championship notwithstanding.

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I tend to agree about Alex Higgins' cue ball control...he was all over the table at the start.
Steve Davis at that time was at least a full level above him.
Then Hendry took it a little farther....and Ronnie O took it even farther.

But I give Alex a lot of credit for performing under extreme pressure...:bow-down:

But Ronnie had lots of pressure on his 147 run...high run prize was worth about
$35,000 USD IN 1982....a 147 is usually a free shot after 10 blacks...lotta hooks
needed....but there was an extra $290,000 USD on the maximum....
...and his cue ball control was far closer to ideal than Alex's...:bow-down::bow-down:

But for sheer exhibition of great talent, even though the last third of the run was a free
shot, pressure-wise.... I like Ronnie's famous 92 run.....:bow-down::bow-down::bow-down:
https://www.google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=...-jxJ8U_sf-p1B9l2Q&sig2=QGQz5WalH_nhfPg5P5Nypw

Ronnies break was in 1997 and I am sure the money wasn't a huge factor to him at the time

below goes for PT109 as well hehe ;-)

flinchfree said:

I realize I don't have long time forum status cred, and will likely get flamed for this......
That's ok.

The Higgins break is incredibly overrated.
And I LOVE Hurricane! Grew up watching him on Pot Black televised in Australia and fanned my love of the game, and thought he was one of the most incredible shot makers you might ever see.

But in the break referenced, he makes one, just one, brilliant shot. The cut to the middle pocket.
The red along the end rail is also good, but I make that shot myself often enough to not consider it exceptional.

The thing that hurts the break most is his extremely poor cue ball control for many of the opening pots. He makes every subsequent pot more difficult than is necessary, yet none are jaw dropping as they play out. Just one shot after the other showing a lack of finesse, but a natural talent for making a shot when needed.

It's ok, but I've seen innumerable better breaks, pressure of a major championship notwithstanding.

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If a player played perfect position would he have got all of the pots during the break?. All well and good scrutinising the performance but I think you are bone picking . It wasn't a club match , it was the semi of the world championships and one miss was all over. He was fighting to survive on every shot which is what makes it such a remarkable performance. How many players today would have rolled up behind a colour and played safe? He had the balls to take the shots on which not many players have these days. I mean seriously how many players today would have kept on going and digging a bigger and bigger hole after losing control of the white? and playing bigger and bigger shots to get back into control?

He did what he had to do under extraordinary circumstances in a highly pressured environment and had the balls to take it on within an era where cue ball control wasn't as precise as it is now and under lighting and table conditions very different to today and at a stage that he hadn't won the title for a decade and I believe had been in a slump. There are a huge amount of variables to take into account and i have heard the poor white control argument a million times but it doesn't add up to me and is unrealistically over scrutinising a wonderful historic sporting performance and there is no need for that.

You can't have your cake and eat it (too) and you can't compare apples and oranges ;-)

Lastly to compare yourself getting the shot down the rail yourself - where are you coming from with that mate? I could have played every shot he played in that break and maybe with a bit of time and concentration and quiet surroundings with no pressure and a cup of tea could even have controlled the white a bit better. I have also had over 100 centuries in practise but not many at a semi of the WC in front of millions of people in the same circumstances and doubt whether I would have potted a single ball over the pocket!! and yes you are getting flamed because your argument speaks volumes and is non nonsensical.

'The red along the end rail is also good, but I make that shot myself often enough to not consider it exceptional' - get with reality please, unless this is Stephen Hendry writing on AZ then my mind just exploded. try playing it with $100 on it, or maybe a thousand, or maybe $100,000!!!! or maybe in the semi of the WC against Jimmy White...... I bet you would more than just flinch. One of the main reasons Higgins was such a good player was his bottle accompanied by the purist of genius that 99.9% of the players since have not possessed. .

jay helfert said:

Higgins was England's version of Keith McCready.

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Alex Higgins English? He'll be turning in his grave

Thanks for posting this. It is such a difficult game that Ronnie makes look easy.

Sorry, can't agree at all.

I played elite youth sports, tennis was my game, and I know something about performing in big matches.

This 'bottle' that you speak of is what every sportsman known to man lives to find within themselves.
If you aint got none son, then you aren't in the hunt for any big match, any time. In fact, the argument you make about being down on his game at the time serves as a stiffner at those moments. He had everyone pulling for him, most thought he was in the wilderness so expectations were far lessened, and knowing Alex he'd had a drink or two leading up to it. Were this his first visit to the WC it would have been a far more impressive feat in dealing with the situation.

You belie your experience in the game to so dismiss cue ball control as a thing of recent times and modern tables. That's absolute rubbish. From the very beginnings of the game in billiards, cue ball control was and has always been everything. Alex just seemed to play close enough is good enough style control for much of his career, and rely on shot making to cover it up.

He stood up, yes, and it is a historically noteworthy match.

But greatest break ever?

Get over yourself.

What about Henry's 155 break?

flinchfree said:

But in the break referenced, he makes one, just one, brilliant shot. The cut to the middle pocket.
The red along the end rail is also good, but I make that shot myself often enough to not consider it exceptional.

It's ok, but I've seen innumerable better breaks, pressure of a major championship notwithstanding.

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Sorry you're clueless, the blue to the corner with bottom left side spin with Higgins throwing his whole body into the shot to get the cue ball back.
This cloth back then was also much slower nap cloth than today's.
You're right you don't have enough posts to be so annoyingly wrong.
If you don't believe the people on this board just ask Ronnie what the greatest break ever is.

flinchfree said:

Sorry, can't agree at all.

I played elite youth sports, tennis was my game, and I know something about performing in big matches.

This 'bottle' that you speak of is what every sportsman known to man lives to find within themselves.
If you aint got none son, then you aren't in the hunt for any big match, any time. In fact, the argument you make about being down on his game at the time serves as a stiffner at those moments. He had everyone pulling for him, most thought he was in the wilderness so expectations were far lessened, and knowing Alex he'd had a drink or two leading up to it. Were this his first visit to the WC it would have been a far more impressive feat in dealing with the situation.

You belie your experience in the game to so dismiss cue ball control as a thing of recent times and modern tables. That's absolute rubbish. From the very beginnings of the game in billiards, cue ball control was and has always been everything. Alex just seemed to play close enough is good enough style control for much of his career, and rely on shot making to cover it up.

He stood up, yes, and it is a historically noteworthy match.

But greatest break ever?

Get over yourself.

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The unorthodox play of Higgins was encapsulated in his break of 69, made under unusual pressure, against Jimmy White in the penultimate frame of their World Professional Snooker Championship semi-final in 1982. Higgins was 0–59 down in that frame, but managed to compile an extremely challenging clearance during which he was scarcely in position until the colours. In particular, former world champion Dennis Taylor considers a three-quarter-ball pot on a blue into the green pocket especially memorable, not only for its extreme degree of difficulty but for enabling Higgins to continue the break and keep White off the table and unable to clinch victory at that moment. In potting the blue, Higgins screwed the cue-ball on to the side cushion to bring it back towards the black/pink area with extreme left-hand sidespin, a shot Taylor believes could be played 100 times without coming close to the position Higgins reached with cue-ball. He went a little too far for ideal position on his next red but the match-saving break was still alive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alex_Higgins#cite_note-clearance-32

I didn't dismiss cue ball control as a thing of modern times, neither did I state that Higgins always had the ball on a string. It was the occasion and circumstances in which he produced the break is what I was stressing. The game has evolved considerably over the years in terms of equipment and table conditions. So has shot selection and the types of shots that can be played now on heated beds, advancements in ball technology and super fine cloth in comparison to previous years. These factors have increased precision in the game likewise has different equipment used by tennis and golf professionals which makes the break even more impressive.

The break is widely recognised as the greatest break of all time for a wide variety of factors, it is not just solely my opinion and it is not black and white. I have no idea why you would pull down a successful sportsman by talking about his drinking etc in order to try and prove your point?

Show me a similar break made in similar circumstances?

8BallWonderland said:

Sorry you're clueless, the blue to the corner with bottom left side spin with Higgins throwing his whole body into the shot to get the cue ball back.
This cloth back then was also much slower nap cloth than today's.
You're right you don't have enough posts to be so annoyingly wrong.
If you don't believe the people on this board just ask Ronnie what the greatest break ever is.

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True I was going to mention Ronnie stating Higgins break as the best break in history and Ronnie's opinion counts .

I think any number of breaks Selby has made against Higgins in this years Championship, being down as many frames as he was, needing to grind and grind to get back into the match, have been better breaks.

I like history too. I'm 48 and have watched not an insignificant amount of snooker in my time.
Hurricane's involvement in that match, with all that went with it as you say, make it incredibly memorable. My reference to his drinking was merely to suggest it likely ameliorated his nerves somewhat in the moment.....making the 'moment' perhaps less difficult to navigate.
As I've said earlier, much like Ronnie idolizes Hurricane for his play AND his showmanship, bravado, eccentricities, and general middle finger to the establishment nature, Higgins was my favorite player of the day.

But the break itself, for mine, is hardly extraordinary.
That's ok, I'm happy enough for others - even if the wide majority - to feel differently.
Always funny though to read other posters think that within their forum/group resides all wise thinking and last word on their niche interest, and that potting a poster they don't recognize is the quickest way to substantiating their claims.

No probs, I'll stick to asking opinions and not offering mine.

8BallWonderland said:

Sorry you're clueless, the blue to the corner with bottom left side spin with Higgins throwing his whole body into the shot to get the cue ball back.
This cloth back then was also much slower nap cloth than today's.
You're right you don't have enough posts to be so annoyingly wrong.
If you don't believe the people on this board just ask Ronnie what the greatest break ever is.

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Oh, and 'throwing his whole body into the shot' was how Higgins played so much of the time - it was hardly a mind blowing moment. The Hurricane was literally lifting his head and upper body so much of the time through his playing career it was an incredible feat he could cue so straight, and make so many many extraordinary pots.

I've seen harder pots than the blue just in the last 2 frames of Selby's today....