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LONDON : Former snooker world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan believes Alex Higgins deserved better treatment from the sport after his career finished.
Higgins died of throat cancer in Belfast aged 61 on Saturday after fighting the disease for more than a decade.
The Northern Irishman was one of snooker's most flamboyant and ground-breaking talents and is still fondly remembered for his epic battles with the likes of Steve Davis in the 1980s.
O'Sullivan, who grew up watching Higgins on television and later played against him, believes his idol's role in transforming snooker into a mainstream sport should have been rewarded with financial assistance when he was in need in his later years.
Asked by talkSPORT radio station if snooker should have done more for Higgins, O'Sullivan replied: "A million percent. Alex should have been looked after from the minute he couldn't earn a living playing snooker.
"I believe all snooker players that are doing well out of snooker since the 1970s and 1980s, it's all down to Alex Higgins and people like Steve Davis.
"It should have been for the players to dip into their prize money for the great players that put snooker on the map.
"I definitely think snooker could have done a lot more for him.
"If Alex Higgins was a golfer I think he'd have probably been a multi-millionaire in his ending days because I do think they look after their top sportsmen a bit better.
"Hopefully snooker can learn from that now and hopefully for the future, great players do good for the game and there can be something in place to make sure they're not in the situation Alex found himself in towards the last few years of his life, because it was sad to see.
"It was a sad, sad day -- sad news. I knew Alex reasonably well and I was really gutted."
Higgins is credited with dragging snooker into the public eye and, despite his fiery temper and numerous controversies away from the table, O'Sullivan remains his biggest fan.
"He had such a charisma and a presence about him," O'Sullivan said.
"I remember him coming to Blackpool when I first turned professional. He'd walk in a room and the atmosphere would just change immediately because of the presence of the man.
"He was a fantastic character and player and he knew how to work a crowd. He was a professional and a genius -- George Best if you like... Unbelievable.
"I was lucky enough to play him and be up close to him. Even though I could see he was struggling, you could see he'd be a match for anybody -- even Steve Davis.
"I loved the man, I really, really did. I was probably one of the only people that actually got on well with him. We had such a mutual respect.
"A lot of people used to say 'be careful of Alex', but he was a gentleman with me."
- AFP /ls
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