HIGGINS: I MAY QUIT SNOOKER

FOUR-TIME world champion John Higgins is ready to quit snooker after crashing out of the UK Championships in York.

After losing 6-5 against fellow Scot

Alan McManus in the second round, Higgins, 43, said: “When you watch guys like Neil Robertson on the next table, knocking centuries, and I’m doing 30 ... I’m just garbage. I know I said it last year, maybe I was papering over the cracks. But I really do feel I’m nearing the end of my time with this game.”

The three-time UK champion (above) who had struggled to defeat Dechawat Poomjaeng in the first round, won the first frame but lost the next three to McManus.

Higgins’ exit followed those of world No1 Mark Selby, who lost to amateur James Cahill, and Shaun Murphy, beaten on the opening day.