Higgins admits career over claims‘ stupid’
JOHN HIGGINS has admitted he was “stupid” to say his career might be finished after his surprise defeat to Mark King at the UK Championship last week in York.
Yesterday the four-time world champion showcased his class with an impressive 4-1 win over Jack Lisowski on the opening day of the Scottish Open.
“It was probably stupid what I said last week,” said Higgins who faces another Englishman in Chris Keogan tomorrow at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena.
“The reason I did was I had lost three or four times roughly at that same stage (of the UK) for the last few years.
“I even knew when I went 4-2 up on Mark that I would lose 6-5. It was terrible negative thinking which is not like me. I said what I did in the heat of the moment but it was more to do with my mind than anything else. I was still sore with the defeat.”
Higgins led Hong Kong potter Marco Fu 4-1 in last year’s Scottish Open final but lost eight frames in a row in a shock 9-4 defeat.
The loss was tough but Higgins won’t look back and said: “I’ve got good memories from last year although I lost in the final. It would be amazing to win the title.”
Defending champ Fu thrashed Welshman Duane Jones 4-0 in his opening match while Scottish youngsters Chris Totten and Ross Vallance are into round two.
Totten beat Englishman Sam Baird 4-1 while Vallance beat fellow Edinburgh pro Robert Carlisle 4-2.