Hendry is surprised by Higgins’ resurgence

JOHN HIGGINS is silencing the doubters — with his fellow Scot and ‘King of the Crucible’ Stephen Hendry admitting he was one of them. World No 6 Higgins, 41, is bidding to become the oldest winner of the World Championship for 39 years after enjoying a resurgence in recent times. But seven-time champion Hendry admitted he once feared Higgins’ career was over, saying: ‘John went through a period when I thought he was in trouble. He has proven me wrong.’ Higgins leads Barry Hawkins 10-6 in their best-of-33 frame semi-final at The Crucible. The Englishman got within a frame at 5-4 down — courtesy of a controversial moment after he missed the reds twice and needed to hit them with his third shot or be docked a frame. But a white ball replaced incorrectly gave Hawkins another shot, which he potted before taking the frame. Four-time world champion Higgins won the 46-minute 16th frame to take a fourframe lead overnight. And the Scot believes he will be facing one of the greats if he and Mark Selby reach the final. Higgins would go second only to Hendry on the alltime list of ranking event winners should he lift the trophy on Monday. But he feels defending champion Selby, who is tied at 12-12 with Ding Junhui in the other semi-final, belongs in the highest class. ‘Mark is one of the best to have ever played the game,’ said Higgins. ‘He’s got a great all-round game and it’s testament to him that he’s winning lots of events and he wants to keep winning. You’ve got to give him every credit.’