The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Higgins ‘too fearful’ to pot major titles
John Hi g g i n s has become too fearful and no longer has what it takes to win major snooker titles, says six-time world champion and long-term rival Ronnie O’Sullivan.
T he 37- time ranking event winner O’Sullivan lies two ahead of Higgins’ four Crucible crowns but the Scot, 45, has claimed 30 major titles across a storied career.
A win at the 1994 Skoda Open kick-started his glor y days, while four Sheffield victories, three UK Championships and tw o Ma s t e r s titles – snooker ’s three Triple Crown events – have etched his name into snooker’s pantheon.
World no 6 Higgins, who breezed past Fergal O’Brien in the first round of the UK Championship, has not won a ranking event since the 2018 Welsh Open and O’Sullivan believes his days at the top have come to an end.
The 44- year- old said: “I’m John’s biggest fan, but I just think you hit a point where you miss important balls and you lose your concentration.
“And at the highest level, someone like [Neil] Robertson, [Judd] Trump, Ding [ Junhui], [ Mark] Selby, who are in their prime, means you can’t afford to do that.
“I think John can still sneak a tournament now and again, but I think for the players in that age bracket there’s natural decline.
“A s far as winning, when it comes to being a winning machine or winning tournaments, it’s about potting the big balls at the big moments.
“It’s OK playing well at the beginning of the match, but there becomes a point in the match where you can’t have any fear. I just think as you get older, fear takes over.
“John’s still a top eight player, possibly a top six and possibly a top four p l ay e r because of his consistency and his levels, but being a regular in the winning circles and winning again is hard.”
Higgins and O’Sullivan have met 69 times on the table with the Rocket, the current world no 2, edging the Scot out on 37 of those occasions.
Higgins, who won the Crucible title in 1998, 2007, 2009 and 2011, has triumphed in 29 of their encounters but has suffered a decline in form over recent years, scooping just a solitary major title since the Indian Open in 2017.
O’Sullivan, who turns the same age as Higgins next week, enjoyed a World Championship renaissance in the summer and roared to a thrilling sixth Sheffield crown to leave him one behind Stephen Hendry’s record.
And the Rocket, who has also won seven UK Championships and seven Masters titles, says his,
Higgins and Mark Williams’ – a three-time world champion – longevity makes them truly unique.
He added: “I think me, John and Williams have done well to hold on for as long as we have.
“It’s testament to John, Mark and myself that we’ve been able to hang around for seven or eight years longer than we should have done. That just shows what level we were playing at.
“Would a 44- year- old [Neil] Robertson beat a 35-year-old John Higgins?
“He’d probably do well to get a frame off him, yet John is still able to compete with these guys.
“It just shows you the level that John’s game has and the pedigree that he has is still far superior to most players who have ever played.”
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