A semi-final that swung both ways
The semi-final was played at the Crucible from 12 to 14 May 1982, over the best of 31 frames. The first player to 16 would reach the final.
On one side was a man who had already been world champion once, in 1972. On the other was a player who had celebrated his 20th birthday earlier that same month.
The former champion made the better start and led 4-1. The younger man levelled at 4-4, then edged ahead. A break of 89 put him 11-8 in front.
Later, with three frames left to play, he led 15-13. One more frame would put him in the world final.
The former champion answered with a break of 72 to make it 15-14. It kept him alive, but only just. He now had to win both of the last two frames.
Frame 30: 59 points behind
Frame 30 looked like the end. The younger player moved 59 points in front, and a place in the world final was within his reach.
Then, playing with the rest, he went for a red and missed it.
That miss was the opening. The former champion came to the table 59 points behind and one frame from defeat. There was no room for error: a single miss of his own could send his opponent into the final.
The clearance
He cleared the table with a break of 69.
On paper, that is just a number. The man watching from the chair would later say it was anything but routine. By his count, four or five of the shots in that break were ones the player at the table was odds against making.
The clearance won the frame and levelled the match at 15-15. A place in the world final would come down to one last frame.
In their book Masters of the Baize, Luke Williams and Paul Gadsby call it “arguably the greatest clearance of all time”.
The decider and the world title
The deciding frame was settled by another break. The former champion made 59, the same number of points he had trailed by in the frame before, and won the match 16-15.
The final started the very next day. Played at the Crucible on 15 and 16 May 1982, it went his way 18-15, and he finished it with a clearance of 135.
It was his second world title, ten years after his first.
Why it still matters
Decades later, the young man who lost that day still calls it the best break he has ever seen.
His name is Jimmy White.
The man who made the clearance was Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins. The opponent he beat in the final was Ray Reardon.
Speaking on Eurosport, in comments reported by TNT Sports, White summed up what he saw from his chair: “He was so out of position. This was my hero.”
He has also said that nobody ever made another break like it, because players simply do not attempt those shots.
That clearance kept Higgins in the 1982 World Championship. Without it, there would have been no second world title.
Is this the greatest clearance in snooker history, or is there a better one? Tell us in the comments.
