Achievements in the Face of Adversity

Brendan Flowers

Last night saw a perfect example of this. While I was supporting Judd Trump in the World Championships, last night saw John Higgins claim a 4th World title after probably the most difficult and controversial 12 months of his career. This time last year he was one of the most hated men in sport, accused of match fixing and facing the possibility of a life ban from the sport. Although John wasn’t innocent he was cleared of all the serious charges. A six month ban followed. Then he had to deal with the death of his father. Recently he has also been targeted by the people who sent the bomb to Neil Lennon because of his support of Celtic FC

But since returning to snooker John has been excellent. 6 tournament wins and one other final appearance has been nothing short outstanding. Has his return to snooker been one of the great achievements in the face of adversity? Are there other achievements you would rank alongside this?

TheZohanS

Snooker isn't a sport.

Guill

Sink the pink.

bonerm

Don't really follow the personal lives of sports stars but 3 of the big underdog wins I can think of are.

Denmark 1992 European Champions(they weren't even scheduled to play in the tournament until 2 weeks before it started ... they only got in because Yugoslavia were kicked out due to civil war ).

Greece 2004 European Champions (a team with no international pedigree were languishing bottom of their qualification group in October 2002. 20 months later they're the top team in europe). TBH they're just about the only reason I continue to suffer thru watching the Irish team, the belief that anything can happen.

Goran Ivanisovic Wimbledon win 2001 (injury had seen him slip 125 in the world and only even got to play as a wildcard).

AnonoBoy

Once I started a thread about snooker and it stayed in After Hours instead of being moved to the Snooker & Pool forum.

Victory to me!

That is pretty impressive alright... Can't think of any of the other millions of examples though. My head is mush today.

McBauer

Not exactly an achievement in the face of adversity but Jenson Button surely deserves a mention. A few weeks before the start of the 2009 F1 season he didnt have a drive after the withdrawal of Honda from the sport. He career looked to be finished. Then came a buyout of the team, the formation of Brawn GP and 9 month later Jenson Button World Champion.

jester77

Evading the most elite & sophisticated intelligence and one of the most expensive military operations for nearly 10 years!

bonerm

jester77 wrote: »

Evading the most elite & sophisticated intelligence and one of the most expensive military operations for nearly 10 years!

or 3 months depending on who you ask.

bm365

It was a fine preformance from Higgins although I still think Trump deserved to win. The kid is an unbelievable talent.

I honestly didnt expect this from John coming back after his ban. I thought his game would suffer greatly (in the fashion as Tiger Woods) but no. Instead he is producing some of the best snooker of his life. Well done John.

Hookah

Christy Brown deserves a mention.

How he made that save, I'll never know.

Badgermonkey

Brendan Flowers wrote: »

Has his return to snooker been one of the great achievements in the face of adversity? Are there other achievements you would rank alongside this?[/COLOR]

Crashing into the Andes mountains and being forced to consume your fellow passengers to survive?

If Bill Werbeniuk were aboard the flight, the survivors could have had seconds and desert.

kfallon

Kieren Fallon's victory on Dylan Thomas in the Arc, came the day before he was due in court for the start of that joke of a race fixing trial.

Shows the man has ice in his veins!

bonerm

Badgermonkey wrote: »

Crashing into the Andes mountains and being forced to consume your fellow passengers to survive?

If Bill Werbeniuk were aboard the flight, the survivors could have had seconds and desert.

Died aged 56? Clearly he was an overachiever away from the table as well as at it.

biko

Usama managing to stay alive for 10 years.

Badgermonkey

kfallon wrote: »

Kieren Fallon's victory on Dylan Thomas in the Arc, came the day before he was due in court for the start of that joke of a race fixing trial.

Shows the man has ice in his veins!

Horse racing, Motor racing and Snooker have all been referenced in this thread.

I'd suggest the sports forum but in all 3 cases I'd be on shaky ground.

Buceph

Despite having the most boring public image of any sportsman ever, Tiger Woods managed to bang a different beautiful women every night of his career and got away with it for years without ever being seen as more interesting than bran flakes.

That to me is an amazing achievement in the face of severe adversity.

Fremen

Biffo making it all the way to Taoiseach despite the fact that he's obviously missing a chromosome.

Da Shins Kelly

Surely Lance Armstrong deserves a mention.

bonerm

Da Shins Kelly wrote: »

Surely Lance Armstrong deserves a mention.

Balls to that.

Hookah

bonerm wrote: »

Balls to that.

No need to be so teste.