Higgins will use a rest – but not on table
Lanarkshire snooker ace John Higgins is looking forward to a well-earned break after reaching the Scottish Open semi-finals at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.
Higgins, from Bothwell, lost out to eventual winner Neil Robertson, but hammered Ronnie O’sullivan 5-0 in the quarter-finals – his first whitewash win over‘the Rocket’in 23 years.
The four-time world champion said:“it was good to stop the rot because I had lost to him the last four times we played.
“Before that I had a decent record against him, but you don’t want to keep losing to the same player, so I’m over the moon.”
Higgins lost 6-3 to Australian Robertson in the semi-final, and the Australian went on to beat China’s Cao Yupeng in the final, storming back from 8-4 down to win the deciding frame.
Fearing burn-out ahead of next year’s World Championships, Higgins hasn’t entered the German Masters qualifiers and will manage his schedule in the second half of the season.
Snooker’s top stars have competed in seven tournaments in the last eight weeks, including two trips to China.
Higgins said:“we’ve played a lot of snooker in the last few months, so I’m looking forward to a couple of weeks off before the Masters.
“I haven’t entered a few of the tournaments in the second half of the season, because the schedule has been pretty punishing.”