TWO of the great names of snooker took their leave to a standing ovation from hundreds of adoring York fans after snooker's 'Hurricane' was swept aside by the 'Whirlwind' in their exhibition match at the Barbican Centre.

A frail-looking Alex Higgins was only a shadow of his former greatness as he suffered a 6-1 defeat by Jimmy White.

Many in the audience of more than 500 rose to cheer and applaud the 'People's Champion' into the arena, but Higgins was able to produce only flashes of the brilliance which twice won him the world title.

His best break was 65 on his way to winning the third frame, but with more points at his mercy he accidentally dropped his cue and appeared to lose his balance when he bent to pick it up. The momentum and his concentration broken he got no further with the break.

White, playing in a smoothly relaxed manner, hit back with a 60 break and could easily have completed a clearance with a straightforward black to take the frame but he chose to send it round the table as if he wanted to give Higgins the chance to get a frame under his belt.

The Irishman missed a potable chance and then White missed the black altogether, giving Higgins the frame 72-60.

Numerous times White gave Higgins opportunities to make pots which could have started substantial breaks with the reds spread about, but the Irishman couldn't capitalise.

There were glimpses of his exceptional skills, though. Some of his angled shots and delicate touches were superb.

His positional play was inconsistent, though, and White more often than not stepped in to show how it should be done.

Higgins played with serious determination, but the harder he tried the worse things got as simple pots went begging.

White made three other half century breaks, 55 in the first frame, 53 in the second and 59 in the last.

White is now level 2-2 in his series of exhibition matches with Higgins.

Frame scores (White first) were: 98-12, 87-11, 60-72, 67-27, 75-27, 60-33, 91-13.

Yorkshire snooker pro Jimmy Michie started the evening by entertaining the audience with trick shots.

Updated: 11:11 Wednesday, May 12, 2004