Higgins’woe inrematch withRonnie
John Higgins admitted he was‘bashing the balls about’too much in his defeat against Ronnie O’Sullivan in theTour Championship.
TheWizard ofWishaw lost 10-8 in a thrilling match against his arch rival at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales.
The clash was a rematch of February’s Players’Championship final in which Higgins thrashed O’Sullivan 10-3 to win his first title in three years.
But Higgins didn’t get it his own way on this occasion.
He entered the mid-session interval trailing 7-5 but the pair shared the evening’s frames with O’Sullivan registering a 1,100th career century with a break of 101 on his way to victory.
“I wasn’t cueing great all game and it was magnified by the final shot on the yellow,”Higgins said.“I bashed it rather than cuing through it like I’ve been doing lately.
“I just threw my cue at it and that was what I was like for most of the match - I was bashing the balls about.
“The conditions weren’t great, It was quite muggy in there and tough to play in. Ronnie and I both missed a few shots.This was a massive tournament and I lost in the first round last year and I’ve done the same again.”
And Higgins was gutted he couldn’t repeat his display in the Players’ Championship.
He added:“I wish I could have replicated what I did at the players - I played amazing
“The game is hard and you’d love to play like that all the time but it’s just not going to happen.
“I’m disappointed, Ronnie struggled as well and it must have been good to watch but it wasn’t the best match play.”
O’Sullivan, who eventually lost in the final to Neil Robertson, reckoned his rival just had an off-day.
He said:“If he plays well then he beats me probably every time. I’d have to play out of my skin to stay with him, but if he’s below par then I’ve got a chance.
“For me, he’s the best all-round player and he had a stinker today and that’s why I got through so I’ll take it – especially after the drubbing he gave me a couple weeks ago.”
The pinnacle of the Snooker calendar arrives on April 17 with theWorld Championship event at the famous CrucibleTheatre.
Four-time world champion Higgins has lost in three of the last four finals at the tournament and he said:“I’ve got to dust myself down because I’ve got the league then it’s theWorlds, so it’ll be full steam ahead for that.”