John: I can be king of Crucible again
Higgins issues warning heading to Worlds
JOHN HIGGINS reckons his rout of Ronnie O’Sullivan has warned Crucible rivals he’s back with a vengeance.
And the Scot is desperate to copy Sunday’s Players Championship success by ending his hoodoo when the Worlds get under way in just over six weeks’ time.
The four-time world champion rolled back the years as he destroyed the Rocket 10-3 to end a three-year ranking title drought.
The 45-year-old lost three world finals in a row from 2017 before being knocked out by Kurt Maflin in the second round in last year’s Sheffield showdown.
But Higgins, who became the oldest ranking event winner since Doug Mountjoy in 1989, said: “I’ve got to fancy my chances for the Worlds now. This is the best week in my career but to win the Worlds for a fifth time would top it. It’s going to be difficult, it always is.
“It’s the hardest tournament to win but I’m going there now in a much better frame of mind than I have been in previous years.
“I’ve sent a bit of a message to the other guys that I’m back.
“I was maybe a player in the last couple of years who the top boys thought they could knock over pretty easily if I wasn’t playing well.
“It lets everybody know I’m still a contender and a top player to be reckoned with.”
The Wizard of Wishaw banked £125,000 after losing four frames en route to a 31st ranking title.
He said: “The way I felt all week and the way I felt in control, I’m thinking I can win more now. It’s a funny feeling because I’m thinking I’ve got that monkey off my back after the last three years.
“I just want to push on and try to add more titles now. That fire still burns quite brightly. I’ve had dark moments throughout my career, I’ve had peaks and troughs.
“Right now, there’s no better feeling than coming out the other side as a winner again.”
While Higgins has pulled out of this week’s Gibraltar Open, Stephen Hendry faces Matt Selt tonight in his first match on the pro tour in almost nine years.
World No.1 Judd Trump kicked off his title defence last night with 4-1 victory over Robbie Williams thanks to breaks of 80, 74 and 54.
Shaun Murphy moved into the second round with a come-frombehind 4-2 win over Ashley Hugill.