John Higgins feels he knows reason behind trophy drought but can't fix it

Yesterday at 04:00 PM

John Higgins feels his lack of silverware in recent years is down to a lack of practice, but at his stage of his career he cannot put in more hours, leaving himself in a frustrating situation.

The four-time world champion is still one of the best in the world, sitting at number 13 in the rankings as he approaches his 50th birthday in May.

However, the most recent of his 31 ranking titles came in February 2021, so while he is still competing at the top end of the game, he has not been taking home trophies to show for it.

At 49 years old it is thoroughly impressive to be doing what he is doing, but for a player who has been at the pinnacle of his sport for so long, anything but challenging for titles is difficult to take.

Higgins feels the reason is obvious why he isn’t winning tournaments as much anymore, simply because he does not practice enough, but he cannot bring himself to change that after so many years of grinding dedication.

‘I'll be honest. It's not rocket science. I can do it in fits and bursts, but it's maybe because you don't put in the same level of practice as you used to do and that maybe comes back to haunt you at the critical moments in the big, big events,’ Higgins said of a lack of consistency.

‘I'd love to be able to practice more, but I just can't. My mind just can't take it in. I just don't have the capabilities to do it.

‘I still love playing, I still love competing. I want to be competitive when I come to big events, of course I do, but that’s maybe the deciding factor of it. It can be as simple as that really.’

Higgins has lost a number of memorable, close matches, recently at the Welsh Open to Mark Selby and last month to Neil Robertson at the Masters being two examples.

There have been questions over his belief that he can get over the line in those circumstances but he says confidence is not really the issue, in fact he is quite bullish about where his game is. The problem is how good everyone else has become.

‘I don’t care what anyone says, I think I'm a better player than I was 20 years ago, I think I am,’ he said.

‘But nowadays I'm not winning the big events, but that's simply because it was easier to win events 20 years ago to win events compared to nowadays. It's easy to explain.’

Knowing what he has to do to get back into the winners’ circle but not feeling able to do it sounds like a frustrating loop to be stuck in and Higgins certainly feels that way.

‘It is [frustrating]. I don't know how to tackle that. How can I do that?’ Higgins asked. ‘I've been doing it all my life. I've been doing it for over 40 years in a darkened room. It just gets to that point that you can't give anymore.

‘I feel as if I was to play more than I would lose enjoyment. I would then lose whatever I've got left in the game if I was to put that much into it. I think I’ve got maybe a decent enough balance.’

The Wizard of Wishaw had previously set himself a goal of being in the world’s top 16 at 50 years old, which he looks likely to be in a few month’s time.

Now he intends to stay there for as long as possible and will keep playing until he no longer feels he is part of snooker’s elite.

‘I think my goal is always to be, if I am going to be playing, I'd want to be seeded for the Crucible and I'd always want to be in the Masters.

‘If you're doing that you're doing okay, so that's what I would always strive to do.

‘But then again I don't want to be in them and then lose first round. I want to be competitive, that's my overriding goal to be competitive with the best players.’