Higgins refuses to blame table after Welsh exit
SNOOKER. WELSH OPEN
JOHN Higgins refused to follow Judd Trump in blaming conditions for his Welsh Open exit after being sent packing at Celtic Manor.
The Wizard of Wishaw became the third player in the world’s top 10 to fall at the third-round stage when he went down 4-3 against Ali Carter.
Trump and Kyren Wilson were quick to criticise the humidity and table quality in the match rooms but Higgins was not prepared to offer up excuses.
“It wasn’t great but I’ve got no complaints,” he said.
“It was pretty tough to move the white about but when we got into a bit of rhythm we fed off each other and there were a few breaks.
“It wasn’t ideal but you’ve got to get on with it – it’s the same for both players.”
A sparkling 124 from the 45-year-old levelled matters at 3-3 and he was offered an opportunity in the decider when Carter hit the jaws on 16.
Higgins came through a thrilling decider against Ben Woollaston in the second round but the world No.26 was more clinical when offered a chance, clearing the table with a 99 break to settle the outcome.
“I played a really bad safety shot in the decider and he knocked in a good long red,” Higgins said.
“It was a tough game – it always is with Ali. There was a lot of good safety and you’ve got to earn your chance.
“I need to get a few days’ practice in before the Players Championship next week, I still feel a bit rusty.
“I have a few things to iron out and hopefully I can go and get a win there.”
Anthony McGill followed his fellow Glaswegian in losing a deciding frame in the last 32 but insists a trophy is just around the corner.
“In the last six months I’ve been so happy with my game, it’s just not showing in results,” he said after being edged out by Barry Hawkins.
“I’m putting myself in positions where I have the chance to beat these guys. I’m just getting a bit nervous and too excited, because I know how good they are.
“These guys are not playing better than me. I just have to be patient as it’s not happening, but it will.
“It’s going to click and I’m going to win one of these tournaments, 100 per cent. Maybe it will be the World Championships or [March’s] Gibraltar Open – it will happen soon.”
Stephen Maguire is the sole Scot through to the quarterfinals following consecutive 4-2 victories over Matthew Selt and Pang Junxu – the world No.8 will play either Barry Hawkins or reigning champion Shaun Murphy in the last eight.
Perth potter Scott Donaldson surrendered a two-frame advantage in his third-round defeat against world No.10 Mark Allen.
■ Watch the Welsh Open live on Eurosport, Eurosport app and stream on discovery+
SERENA Williams bade a tearful farewell to the Australian Open amid questions about whether she may have played at the tournament for the last time.
Williams gave the crowd inside the Rod Laver Arena a long wave goodbye with her hand on her heart following her 6-3, 6-4 semi-final defeat by Naomi Osaka. The gesture prompted speculation about whether the 39-year-old would ever be back competing at Melbourne Park, where she has won the title seven times.
In her post-match press conference, Williams, who had never previously lost a semifinal in Melbourne, responded: “I don’t know. If I ever say farewell, I wouldn’t tell anyone. So…”
Williams then became tearful during the next question, a relatively mundane enquiry about her unforced errors during the match, and said: “I don’t know. I’m done,” before leaving the room.
Williams once again came up short in her 11th attempt to move level with Margaret Court’s record haul of 24 grand slam singles titles, and it is now a year and a half since she made a final.
Osaka will be looking to maintain her record of never having lost a grand slam final when she takes on American Jennifer Brady on Saturday.
Brady, ranked No.24, will be playing in her first slam final after beating Czech Karolina Muchova 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
There was late drama when Brady thought she had taken her second match point, dropping to her knees only to realise her shot was out. She had to save three break points before finally clinching her fifth opportunity and falling to the court.
The 25-year-old said: “I can’t feel my legs. My legs are shaking, my heart is racing.”
Brady and Osaka played one of the best matches of 2020 in the US Open semi-finals.
BRUCE ANDERSON is continuing to make Derek McInnes look silly. As Aberdeen toiled to a sixth game in a row without a goal at Celtic Park on Wednesday night, one of their own was showing how it is done just 10 miles away in Paisley.
Anderson’s equaliser against St Mirren was his second goal since being allowed to leave Pittodrie for a loan stint at Hamilton Accies for the second half of the season.
McInnes pointed out that the 22 year-old had failed to notch a league goal during a previous loan spell at Ayr United but with Anderson now performing at Premiership level – he also scored in the derby win over Motherwell – questions will rightly be asked of why Aberdeen had been so quick to jettison him.
Anderson praised Accies boss Brian Rice for “making him feel wanted”, something he suggested hasn’t always been the case under McInnes.
“The manager has taken me in here and I’ve loved every minute of it,” said the Banffborn striker. “I feel wanted here and I’ve not really felt that before. I feel like there’s a real want for me to be here. The manager has treated me well since I came. It’s just about me repaying him now and enjoying my football.
“I was really frustrated with how it went in the first half of the season. It didn’t work out for a number of reasons on and off the pitch. But just because it didn’t work out doesn’t mean that I didn’t learn from it. I’m looking to channel that frustration here and hopefully keep Hamilton in the league.”
None of Aberdeen’s new trio of strikers – Callum Hendry, Fraser Hornby and Florian Kamberi – have found the net yet but Anderson isn’t hugely concerned by his parent club’s goalscoring plight.
“I’m just focused on here,” he added pointedly. “Hamilton is the club I’m at just now. Aberdeen is at the back of my mind. I just want to put in as many good performances for
Hamilton as I can. I think I’ll be a better player after this loan move whether it’s at Aberdeen or elsewhere.
“I’ve just got my head down since I came here and I’m looking to stick in and improve as a player.”
A big-man, little-man strike partnership with Marios Ogkmpoe also seems to be blooming.
“I love playing with him,” added Anderson. “We are two completely opposite players in terms of style. He loves challenging for the ball and doing the dirty work.
“He takes the bumps and I just play around him.
We’ve already got a real understanding. I’m just looking to improve that partnership and hopefully there’s more goals to come from the both of us.”
The other goalscorer in the 1-1 draw at the SMISA Stadium is also hoping his endeavour may lead to a brighter future.
Ilkay Durmus’ St Mirren contract expires in the summer but the Turk would be open to putting down roots in Paisley.
“As a team we are trying hard to get into the top six and that is what we are mostly concentrating on,” he said. “Other things will follow after that. But I would like to stay here.”
With five European places up for grabs next season with the start of the UEFA Conference League, Durmus admits it would be a dream come true if Saints could force their way into qualifying contention.
“I’ve never played in Europe before so that is something we can also aim for in the rest of the season.
“It would be a dream for me if I could do that. I would love to get into Europe.
“But we just have to keep winning and see where it takes us.”
IT’S no secret that Celtic have seriously underperformed this season. Manager Neil Lennon has put his side’s failings down to a handful of reasons. No supporters inside stadiums to give them a kick up the backside when they need it. Covid-19 decimating his squad at different points throughout the campaign. He even claimed recently that some things had gone on behind the scenes that he couldn’t divulge.
But one of the more significant challenges for Lennon and his players, especially his new signings, has been the impact of moving to Parkhead in the midst of the global pandemic without being able to bring their families. Shane Duffy, Lennon says, has struggled to adapt. Vasilis Barkas has so far failed to make the transition to Scotland. Hatem Abd Elhamed – though not a new signing this season – was seriously homesick, with his wife and young son stuck thousands of miles away in Israel.
The defender had to head back home for the good of his mental health.
One player who knows all about the sacrifice of living and playing abroad is former Dundee Utd man Johnny Russell. The Scotland cap has been plying his trade in MLS with Sporting Kansas City for four years now and had been loving every minute until the virus hit. Now he has not seen his extended family for longer than a day in almost a full calendar year.
That’s why he sympathises with the Celtic stars who have struggled. Life can be lonely when the training pitch and the same four walls of an empty house are the only two places a footballer can go.
“There’s boys like Elhamed, in a different country and they don’t have anyone there,” Russell said. “You’re on your own, don’t have your family around. Normally you train and you’re with all the boys, but even that is a bit restricted just now. People might say, ‘Oh they’re footballers’, but that doesn’t matter. It is hard and I completely understand anyone in that situation who is finding it tough. I’ve been away from my kids for three-and-a-half weeks even just now and I’m struggling with it.
“You need your people around, no matter who it is, and when you don’t get to see them it’s lonely. It’s tough. I completely sympathise with guys like Elhamed and Shane Duffy. And anyone, not just players, anyone who has to work away and don’t get to see their families.
“I only got to see people for a day on Christmas because of quarantine which ended on Christmas Eve. I saw them on Christmas Day and pretty much had to leave right after that. So I’ve not really seen anyone for about a year. It’s been really tough being away from home.
“FaceTime has been good because you get to see their faces but it’s not the same. It’s been tough but it’s the way things are, it’s not just me who is dealing with it.
“Over here [in Kansas] it’s a lot more relaxed with the restrictions so we can go to restaurants and things like that. There are curfews but it’s similar to the UK when it opened where you could go to bars and restaurants if you kept spaced apart. It’s better to have that little bit more freedom. But I’m here on my own. I go and train, do bits around the house and that’s me for the rest of the day. It gets to about four or five-o’clock and everyone back home is in their beds! I just can’t wait to get the family back out soon.”
Russell thought he knew what he was getting himself in for when he moved over to the US, as did Elhamed when he made the switch to Glasgow. The problem since being the absurdity of a worldwide pandemic.
Elhamed’s wife and child, it is understood, were denied
You need your people around, no matter who it is. It’s tough
visas to move over with him and things got even tougher when the freedom of travel became impossible. Russell, though, sees the bigger picture. He misses his family, like anyone would. But he remembers making the call to move and he does not regret it. He just wishes there was a hint of normality back in his life.
“How many nurses and people like that have been working away and have had to see their families through the window and all that,” he added. “It has been a horrible time for everyone and when you don’t have that interaction, especially the guys who have kids and a wife, they’ve maybe not seen them on a daily basis for how long. It’s going to get to you.
“When you make a decision to go abroad somewhere to play, you know you’re not going to see people as often as you normally would. You consciously know that but the situation for the last year has exacerbated that and made it a lot more difficult. I miss not seeing my mum and my brothers and sisters but I’ve been here four years now, so it’s not too unusual for me now.
“Even when I played in England with Derby I wouldn’t see everyone all that often. So I completely understand how hard it can be.”