Celtic triumph buoys Higgins as he cruises into the quarter- finals
As Sundays go it is hard to top John Higgins’ day. He watched his beloved Celtic win the Ladbrokes Premiership title before booking his place in the Betfred World Snooker Championship quarter- finals.
Higgins, seeking a fifth title at the Crucible, thrashed English qualifier Jack Lisowski 13- 1 – dishing out a lesson on how to handle the big occasion.
He will now face either Judd Trump or Ricky Walden for a place in the semi- finals for a ninth time.
With Ronnie O’sullivan now out of the tournament alongs i de Mark S el by, t he path i s beginning to clear for Higgins to launch a serious assault on the title once again.
He is certainly playing well enough and he beat Lisowski with a session to spare after a clinical performance in which he continually fed off the qualifier’ s mistakes and led 8-0 heading into yesterday.
“I was watching Celtic at my apartment just before I was leaving. I arrived in a very good mood,” he said. “I was happy to be 8- 0 up but I thought Celtic should have won 8- 0.
“I was very surprised by Jack but also, I know you are trying to stay professional and think you have to be ruth less and things, I felt for him a little bit.
“A few years ago I played Stephen Hen dry here and I lost a session 7- 1 or 8- 0. It is the worst feeling in the world and the worst venue in the world when you are struggling.” ●Watch the snooker World Championship LIVE on Euro sport and Euro sport Player with Colin Murray and analysis from Ronnie O’ sullivan, Jimmy White and Neal Foulds.