Former world snooker champion Alex Higgins has died aged 61 after a long battle against throat cancer.
The two-time world champion, a heavy smoker, was reportedly found dead in his flat in Belfast on Saturday.
Recent newspaper pictures showed a painfully thin Higgins in Spain after his hopes of having surgery to get new teeth had been dashed.
Higgins lost all his teeth during his cancer treatment but was not deemed fit enough to have the surgery.
The Northern Irishman Higgins had been suffering from throat cancer for more than a decade and he blamed his illness largely on the cigarette makers who sponsored his sport
His weight had reportedly plummeted to only seven stone as he had to have all his food pureed because eating in a normal fashion had become excruciating.
Friends of the controversial snooker legend had raised around £20,000 to enable Higgins to have the surgery in Spain.
However, he was deemed too frail to undergo the operation by the Spanish medics.
Bo Rhap