Friends of Alex Higgins have put £10,000 of funds raised for his medical treatment towards a lavish funeral.
The 61-year-old Higgins was discovered dead in his sheltered home in Belfast yesterday after years battling throat cancer. As tributes poured in for the Northern Irishman over the weekend, his friend and former personal assistant Will Robinson said the remaining money from an auction and a fundraising dinner would be used to give him a "great send-off".
"There was £15,000, there's probably about £10,000 in total when we get everything in. Now that's going to pay for a great send-off," he said.
Funeral details have not yet been finalised and Robinson said there may be a delay to allow his friend and fellow player Jimmy White to return from Thailand. "He's asked to hold things up until he gets back. That's the plan and the family have agreed to that."
A book of condolence will be opened for Higgins at Belfast City Hall tomorrow morning. The city's Lord Mayor, Pat Convery, said: "Many citizens and visitors to our city will want to pay tribute to Alex Higgins in recognition of the contribution the Belfast man made to snooker and raising the profile of the sport to a worldwide audience."
Despite squandering his snooker winnings in a life blighted by drink and gambling, Higgins drew great respect from his peers, who were united in tribute for the two-time world champion tonight.
The Irishman Ken Doherty, 40, was world champion in 1997 and spoke of the influence Higgins had on his career. "He certainly was an inspiration to me," Doherty said. "Nobody could emulate what he did. He was such a once-off. He was so charismatic, unpredictable, the way he played the game, his character himself, he was just a genius."
Scottish player John Higgins, 35, also followed in the footsteps of his namesake, winning the world title in 1998, 2007 and 2009. "As a youngster it was the magical play of players like Hurricane Higgins that inspired me and many of my generation to fall in love with snooker," said Higgins, the world No1 who was suspended by World Snooker in May 2010 following allegations of match fixing, which the player denies.
"During one tournament I remember my father and Hurricane sitting in our hotel talking about snooker into the early hours. The next morning the concierge knocked on my door with a present from Hurricane; it was a beautiful blue snooker suit made by a top Irish tailor. It was a lovely gesture that meant so much to me and my dad.
"This will be a sad time for Hurricane's close family and friends and also sad for the wider snooker community. When people write about the history of snooker they will have to devote many pages to the skills of Hurricane Higgins."
Barry Hearn, the World Snooker chairman, reflected: "Alex was a fabulous player and played shots which had not even been thought of at the time – people gasped," he said. "He helped to take the game from the working class background of misspent youths into more global entertainment during his period.
"But Alex rewrote the book on misspent adulthood. He was a dreadful gambler and I cannot remember him winning one bet – he would go through his pockets and bet every single penny, and the evening would always finish with him asking 'you could not lend me £50 for my train fare home?' and you would obviously never see that again."