Anybody know this match

Hi all

I'll be the first to admit that I don't know much about snooker myself, but my sister is looking for a certain snooker match/frame which I intend to find a video of to give her for Christmas (as well as other things). I'm having no luck finding which she's referring to specifically however and was wondering if anybody would know which one she is talking about specifically with the clues provided.

She "is sure that";
Alex Higgins was one of the two players
The frame she's most interested in went down to the wire, with whoever pots the black wins the frame

She "thinks";
Cliff Thorburn was the other player
It took place in the 80s
It was the final round or final frame (or something)

I've been looking around for a week now with minimal success and haven't been able to find a frame of Alex Higgins that went down to the last black ball. Do any of you know what frame or match she may be referring to specifically?

The obvious thought is Alex Higgins v Jimmy White in 1982 although it wasn't down to the black in the final frame. I don't remember any Cliff Thorburn v Alex Higgins matches apart from the 1980 World final which Thorburn won 18-16. There is one Alex Higgins DVD doing the rounds at the moment, where he beat Stephen Hendry to win the Irish Masters. Sure she'd be happy with that one as a present.

Sonny wrote:The obvious thought is Alex Higgins v Jimmy White in 1982 although it wasn't down to the black in the final frame. I don't remember any Cliff Thorburn v Alex Higgins matches apart from the 1980 World final which Thorburn won 18-16. There is one Alex Higgins DVD doing the rounds at the moment, where he beat Stephen Hendry to win the Irish Masters. Sure she'd be happy with that one as a present.

I'll certainly look into the DVD you've mentioned.

My research turned up both of those games too, though I didn't manage to find any frame within where it went down to the last black ball, even in the middle of the match. If I was able to even find out which one she means specifically and get a youtube video of it that would be something.
I've just no idea though.

The Higgins v White match was famous because it was first to 16 and White was 15-14 ahead and one ball away from the match, missed a red then Higgins did a special clearance to level at 15-15 which included all sorts of kamikaze potting. That frame was won on the black although it was a clearance so it wasn't a classic "black ball game" where both players had chances.

To be fair there's probably loads of Alex Higgins matches when he won on the black in the decider that was on tv in the 1980s, but narrowing it down to one especially if your sister "thinks" the opponent was Thorburn is no easy task. Good luck!

UK final 1983 Alex Higgins vs Steve Davis. That went down to the final frame. That was probably the best win of his career from 0-7 down.

While just looking at various DvDs and things, I've just noticed the description for the 1985 Snooker World Championship with Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis looks exactly like what I'm looking for, except for the obvious "it's not Higgins" part.

Looks like I'm going to have to call her and ask a little.

Amplify wrote:While just looking at various DvDs and things, I've just noticed the description for the 1985 Snooker World Championship with Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis looks exactly like what I'm looking for, except for the obvious "it's not Higgins" part.

Looks like I'm going to have to call her and ask a little.

Higgins would turn in his Grave if he knew your sister had confused him with Taylor.

Speaking of Alex Higgins, does anyone remember when players stopped drinking alcohol during matches?

I remember Mark Bennett drinking quite a few pints during a match against Euan Henderson in The Grand Prix in 1996, but can't remember anything after that.

vodkadiet wrote:Speaking of Alex Higgins, does anyone remember when players stopped drinking alcohol during matches?

I remember Mark Bennett drinking quite a few pints during a match against Euan Henderson in The Grand Prix in 1996, but can't remember anything after that.

I'd drink nut milk or cashew milk so as not to offend any watching vegan snooker fans

Political correctness ruined snooker and darts

Nothing better than seeing a tobacco or alcohol sponsored event with a player surrounded by a cloud of smoke and empty half glasses.

I cant say for sure with snooker but id hazard a guess darts stopped them drinking between 1998-2001

Witz78 wrote:Political correctness ruined snooker and darts

Nothing better than seeing a tobacco or alcohol sponsored event with a player surrounded by a cloud of smoke and empty half glasses.

I cant say for sure with snooker but id hazard a guess darts stopped them drinking between 1998-2001

When Thorburn made his 147 at The Crucible Bill Werbeniuk was playing David Taylor on the other table and Bill's excessive smoking caused Taylor to move his chair to behind the black spot end of the table.

Okay, finally got through and asked her, it *is* Alex Higgins she likes, but she also likes the sound of the 1985 snooker final too.

Well, we'll just have to see what father Christmas brings, I guess. (considering that the 1985 DVD is very limited stock and out of stock everywhere else, and other such problems.)

Sorry to resurrect an old thread - I somehow came across this and I think I know the match you mean.
In the Quarter-final of the 1982 Irish Masters, Thorburn was leading 4-0 before Higgins came back to win 5-4 on the final black.