Alex Higgins (March 18, 1949 – July 24, 2010) was a snooker player from Northern Ireland. He was born in Belfast and started playing snooker at the age of 11. He became a professional player in 1972 when he was 22. He won the 1972 World Snooker Championship by beating John Spencer 37 frames to 32. Ten years later, he won the 1982 World Snooker Championship by defeating Ray Reardon 18 frames to 15. Higgins was nicknamed the "Hurricane" because of his fast play around the table. Higgins retired from professional snooker in 1997.