"Victimised by the hierarchy" When referee run-in led to Alex Higgins storming out
Snooker legend Alex Higgins was no stranger to run-ins and disputes with sporting officials throughout his illustrious career, but he once felt so strongly about a grievance that he walked out of a match without playing a single shot.
The two-time world champion was deep into the winter of his top flight career come the 1996/97 season; it would be his last ‘full’ campaign as a professional.
With a world ranking of 99, ‘The Hurricane’ had nearly blown out completely, being forced to attend the rigmarole of qualifying gauntlets against up-and-coming new stars in order to reach the main draws, venues and television lights.
At the Norbreck Castle in Blackpool - home to long summers of snooker qualification schools - Higgins managed to win a handful of matches, but wasn’t really making an impact as he clung on to his final days as a credible contender.
During the 1997 Thailand Open preliminaries - held several months before the actual event took place in Bangkok - Higgins scored a good 5-4 win over Belgium’s Patrick Delsemme to reach the last 128 of the world ranking tournament.
His next assignment would be a very tough one, though, as he faced Scotland’s Graham Horne who was the reigning European Amateur Champion following success in Antwerp. But the two never got to share the baize.
“I will see you all in court” - The Higgins Walk Out
In a recent post he put on Facebook - that included a newspaper clipping from the time - Horne relived the memorable day he met, and was supposed to play the Career Triple Crown winner.
Prior to the match, Horne described how Higgins was in a playful mood. The Livingston cueman introduced his mother, Wilma, to Higgins, to whom he replied “Hi Wilma, nice to meet you, how’s Fred” in a joke referencing Fred and Wilma from The Flintstones cartoon.
However, Higgins’ cheerful demeanour soon changed when he discovered that the referee for his upcoming match was Lawrie Annandale, an official he had a run-in with the previous year.
Not happy that Annandale - who would have a long refereeing career and was highly-respected - was scheduled to oversee his tie with Horne, Higgins requested that a replacement ref be brought in.
But when that appeal was rejected, the former world number two refused to play, giving his opponent a walkover through to the next round.
Before storming out, though, Higgins found Horne and shook his opponent’s hand saying “all the best in the next round, I have been victimised by the hierarchy”.
As he left the room, Higgins shouted “I will see you all in court”.
Horne would go on to enjoy a fantastic run in the event, defeating future ranking event finalist Ian McCulloch, and 1985 World Champion Dennis Taylor to qualify for the main event in south-east Asia.
In the Thai capital, Horne won a wildcard round match against local player Anurat Wongjan before coming up against national hero and former back-to-back champion of the event James Wattana in the last 32, who stopped his sequence with a 5-2 win.
Only a few weeks later, Horne got the better of former ranking event winner Steve James, 10-7, in the final qualifying round of the World Championship. In total, Horne came through five rounds to make the grade for the Crucible, eliminating future top 16 players and ranking event champions Joe Perry and Mark King along the way.
In Sheffield, Horne was presented with a fiendish opening tie against fellow countryman John Higgins - who in the following year would win the world title and become world number one.
But Horne handled his debut in the hallowed arena well, leading Higgins 3-1 and 4-3 before bowing out when his opponent - who already had six ranking event titles by this point - registered a 10-6 victory.