New date hope for snooker show

The white-out in and around the city caused match promoter Martin Witts to put the Barbican meeting between Jimmy White and Alex Higgins on hold.

The decision was taken as a heavy snow blanketed York and just before the two players were due to fly from Cork to Manchester on the first leg of the journey to the city.

"It was a blizzard which beat a Whirlwind and a Hurricane," Witts, referring to the nicknames of the two snooker legends, said a couple of hours after postponing the show.

The decision was taken because travelling conditions were so treacherous for those coming from far and wide to watch the match.

"We are hoping to reschedule the match for sometime in April," said the promoter. "The Barbican officials need to clear things with the City of York Council so we don't have a specific date set yet."

An announcement is expected to be made this week about the new date.

Both White and Higgins were playing in a pro-am tournament in Kilkenny, in Ireland, at the end of last week and they met in the second round, White winning 3-2.

"It's a pity the bad weather led to the York match being called off because Alex was out to get his revenge in the Barbican," added Witts.

A notice was posted on the Barbican box office doors to announce the postponement "due to inclement weather".

Barbican staff were busy on Saturday telephoning ticket holders to inform them of the postponement and tell them that tickets will be valid for the new date when it is known, or ticket holders would be entitled to a refund.

Saturday was to have been the start of a five-match exhibition tour between to two stars. The other venues are Belfast, Plymouth, Preston and Blackpool.

White is playing in the European Open in Malta this week, then has two big events coming up in April, the Players' Championship in Glasgow from April 3 to 11 and the Embassy World Championship in Sheffield from April 17.

Updated: 11:22 Monday, March 01, 2004