John Higgins
John Higgins was talented growing up but did not realise that snooker could be his living until his late teenage years “I think it was when I was 15 when I won under 16 World Amateur Championship.” Higgins rise in the amateur game was down to leaving his local town Wishaw to join a club in a main Scottish city “I moved into a snooker club in Glasgow and then went into Glasgow to play all the top boys.” Higgins realised that he was good enough to make it as a professional in snooker after winning some of the biggest Pro-Am tournaments in Scotland, England and Ireland “in fact one over in Dublin when I was 15 I beat Ken Doherty in the final he was given me 10 points of a start I played him just off O’ Connell Street in the Mint Snooker club and managed to beat him in the final of one of the big Pro-Ams around that time.” Higgins finally turned professional when he was 17 years old.
Higgins impressed in his first year as a professional as he reached the quarter-final of the British Open. He won his first professional tournament in 1994/1995 season after beating Dave Harold 9-6 in the final of the Grand Prix but 1998 was a significant year for the Scotsman as he won his first World Championship at the Crucible “I think it would have to be when I won the World title for the first time and I think that was the realisation of all my dreams coming true.” Funny enough the Scotsman was drawn against his friend from his amateur days in the 1998 final “I played Ken again and the Dubliner was hoping to defend the World Championship because he won it the previous year in 1997 but when I beat Ken in the final that was my ultimate dream.” Higgins announced himself onto the big stage in sport after winning his first big tournament in 1998.
Higgins has won three more World Championship titles since his maiden win in 1997 and the Scotsman gives an insight into his practice in the run up to the Crucible “I would just put in a bit more time in the practice room and I would play a few more players.” Winning a World Championship at Crucible is like taking part in a marathon “matches at crucible are extreme with it’s been either the best of 19 or 25 frames to progress to the next round.” This is a routine that Higgins does every year and has been successful due to winning four times at the Crucible “I would just play a few more matches I have always done that every year and just try to sharpen yourself up before the biggest tournament in snooker.” Practice is crucial to sharpen the mind before a big tournament regardless whether it’s the World Championship in snooker or The Masters in golf.
With snooker being an individual sport it is difficult to keep patient “it probably happened to me at the World Championship this year as it was only one of the handful times were I was losing to Ronnie O’ Sullivan 13-9.” It was unlike Higgins to get frustrated especially playing in a semi-final of the World Championship at the Crucible “I was really getting down by the way I was playing and I missed a long red at the start of one frame.” The Crucible is not a place were you let your frustrations get the better of you “I really wanted to smash my cue in and I was thinking that I could not win this game playing like this.” Higgins lost his 2022 World Championship semi-final by a score line of 17-11 to O’ Sullivan and possibly getting down on himself stopped the Scotsman from advancing to the final.
Professional sport is currently up in the air since the rise of potential European Super League in football and rise of LIV series in golf “Barry Hearn came back into the game in 2010 and he has managed to ramp the tournaments up by increasing prize money every year.” Higgins revealed that most tournaments went ahead during covid-19 pandemic but missed out on travelling to International tournaments “most of our tour is in the far east but I’ve not managed to get out there due to covid but it has been a tough time in general.” The world of sport has returned to normal in 2022 with full crowds at the biggest sporting events again which included the World Championship in Sheffield.
Higgins has really looked after himself in having a successful professional career that has lasted for over 30 years “I never really got too up or down in my whole career and I have always kept a steady level.” Higgins has not lost his love for snooker in recent years “I have always enjoyed playing and touch wood I don’t have any physical issues like my eyes going by maybe wearing glasses.” The Scotsman is still passionate about the professional game “I still love getting up most days but I don’t practice as much as I used to as I still put in a solid four hours of practice a day.” It is remarkable that Higgins is still passionate as ever after 30 years in the professional game.
The Scotsman still has big goals which includes winning either the UK Championship in 2022 or winning the World Championship for a fifth time in 2023 “I would love to win another World Championship.” Higgins has currently won 31 tournaments since turning professional and will like to overtake Stephen Hendry on 36 before The Wizard Of Wishaw hangs up his cue.
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