Hurricane ‘blackballed’ from match

SNOOKER wild man, Hurricane Higgins has been “blackballed” by the organisers of a major exhibition charity match in Limerick over his behaviour at a tournament in Kildare last week.

The former twice world champion allegedly threatened one spectator during his time at the table and reduced a boy who came to see him play to tears, according to spectators there.

He had been invited as special guest player to the snooker benefit night in aid of the Limerick and North Tipperary Carers Association due to take place at the Kilmurry Lodge Hotel on March 21, but the organisers have now replaced Higgins with Stephen Hendry.

Brendan Coffey, who refereed the Kildare snooker event in which Hurricane took part, was very critical of the player’s behaviour.

A spokesperson for the Limerick event, confirmed yesterday that Higgins will not take part in the exhibition snooker game.

The spokesperson said: “Higgins wasn’t doing anything different to what he’s been doing for the last 40 years. But that said, it had gotten too awkward to deal with him.”

Advertising posters will now have to be altered. “We’ve dedicated a lot of time and money to promoting this,” the spokesperson said.