I’ve got pots of good snooker left in me
Higgins insists he ain’t done yet
JOHN HIGGINS is adamant that he still has a burning desire to succeed in the twilight of his illustrious snooker career.
The four-time world champ suffered semi-final heartbreak with an agonising defeat to bogeyman Judd Trump at the English Open at the weekend.
But the hard-working Scot stressed: “The fire’s still burning brightly, absolutely!
“There’s shoots of recovery – I’m hitting the ball a bit better, so I’ve got to try and take the positives.
“I’ve played some better stuff recently, and hopefully I can take that on for the rest of the season.
“I’m still enjoying competing and I still get a buzz out of competing even without a crowd.
“It’s tough when you have big defeats, but you have to try not to get too high when you win or too low when you lose.
“That’s what I try to do now. I just try and stay pretty level.”
Higgins has lost three of his last four World Championship finals, the last of which came at the hands of world No.1 Trump last year.
The Wishaw Wizard is right under Trump’s spell having lost the last eight meetings between the prolific pair.
Higgins hasn’t won a ranking event since the 2018 Welsh Open, but the 45-year-old hopes his wealth of experience can end his barren spell.
Higgins, who has won 30 ranking titles, added: “You hope you can win titles but you just never know.
“It’s going to be difficult for the likes of myself to raise my game to a different level after all these years.
“But I still enjoy practising and that’s half the battle when you get to my age.”
Higgins has admitted he has absolutely no desire to hang up his cue just yet.
And he credits his freshened perspective on the game to regular practice sessions with compatriots and pals Stephen Maguire and Anthony McGill.
He said: “It will be hard for me to get to another level, but I’m still enjoying playing and
I’ve been back practising with the other Scottish boys.
“I’m still enjoying practising and that’s half the battle. You can have a laugh in the practice unit, slag each other off and have a bit of fun.
“I’ve missed that because I was just playing at the house for a few years. It was getting a bit soul-destroying.”
Trump beat Neil Robertson 9-8 in last night’s final.
Meanwhile, six-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan says old rival Stephen Hendry’s surprise comeback could become a living “nightmare”.
O’Sullivan believes the 51-year-old Scot, who retired eight years ago, is in for a shock reality check.
Hendry took up a two-year invitational tour card for another crack at the circuit last month but the Rocket said: “I’m not sure why he bothered coming back.
“It is going to be an absolute nightmare for him!
“It is a lot different to how it was when he was playing. Mentally and psychologically he is not going to enjoy it.”