Higg’s hit at men of the cloth

JOHN HIGGINS was left raging at playing conditions yesterday at the Scottish Open despite a big win over fierce rival Ronnie O’Sullivan.

The four-time world champion reached the semi-finals of his home tournament with a 5-2 trouncing of the Rocket.

But Higgins, 41, branded the state of the table in Glasgow “a disgrace” and claimed inconsistent bounces off cushions had ruined the match.

The World No.3, who has won almost £400,000 in the past six weeks, also challenged the game’s rulers to re-cloth the tables far more regularly.

He fumed: “The table was terrible. If Barry Hearn or Jason Ferguson are watching, you need to get your finger out.

“For five days we play with the same cloth here, before it is re-covered.

“I don’t know many times we have asked for them to change it. And for a quarter-final in one of the big tournaments, it is a disgrace.

“The game is hard enough without having to second-guess how the white is going to go and come off the cushion.

“Whenever you bring it up you hear, ‘Oh, that’s just what we do’. It’s a disgrace. That table would get nothing out of 10.

“There have been some tournaments where I have gone in and offered to pay it out of my own money!

“I played a little bit better than Ronnie, but it was affecting him as well. And after one pinged off the cushion I missed a pink by miles because I knew I should have been on the black.”

A 29th ranking title tomorrow night would edge Higgins one clear of O’Sullivan and into second place overall in the all-time list behind Stephen Hendry.

Ferguson, chairman of world snooker, said: “Providing optimum playing conditions is of paramount importance to us all. However there are always challenges such as weather and atmospheric conditions which vary week to week.

“We always take on board players’ comments and this is an ongoing discussion.”