Only RoboCop can stop John cuffing us
McGill says Higgins is law unto himself at his best
ANTHONY McGILL believes only Robocop can stand in the way of John Higgins winning a magical fifth World Championship title.
McGill is desperate to win his own maiden Crucible crown as this year’s annual tournament kicks off in Sheffield today and runs until May 3.
But having practised hard with Higgins in the build-up to the prestigious Sheffield event, McGill believes it will take something super human to beat his fellow Scot when he is on his A-game.
Iconic Hollywood sci-fi flick Robocop was based on an injured policeman who is transformed into robot cyborg.
McGill laughed and said: “When John’s playing at his best it would take a Robocop-like machine thing to stop him.
“John’s definitely got another world title in him, there’s no doubt about that. He’s playing some phenomenal snooker at the moment, some of the best of his career.
“It’s difficult to see who’s going to beat him because there’s no weakness in his game.
“This form has been coming for a long time for him.
“It all came to a crescendo at the Players Championship and he just wiped the floor with the best players in the world.”
The Wizard of Wishaw conjured up a stunning spell of snooker to end a surprising three-year ranking title drought at the Players at the end of February.
And the world No.5 would love nothing more than to banish his Crucible heartache, having lost three of the last four world finals.
Higgins, who landed his fourth world title a decade ago, kicks off his quest to end that barren spell at snooker’s spiritual Sheffield home tomorrow against Chinese Tian Pengfei.
He changed his cue this season and made some technical tweaks to his game and has returned to form with a bang since the turn of the year.
Higgins reached January’s Masters Final before hammering arch-rival and defending world champion O’Sullivan 10-3 in the Players Championship showpiece.
The Wishaw ace said: “That fire still burns quite brightly for me. I’ve made some technical changes to my game.
“It’s nothing too big in terms of what you can see but I’m striking the cue ball much better now.
“It’s funny because it’s something I saw Stephen (Hendry) and Ronnie discussing during some chat in the lockdown.
“It’s something I’ve been working really hard on and it has given me more confidence.”
McGill dazzled to reach his maiden Crucible semi-final last season and begins his title challenge against Ricky Walden tomorrow morning.