John Higgins unfazed by painful defeats: 'My whole career I've had them'

03/10/2023 14:08

John Higgins is not getting down over the painful defeats he has suffered in recent years, saying he has been dealing with stinging losses his whole career, so it is nothing new at 48 years old.

The four-time world champion is still going strong as he edges closer to 50, ranked number 10 in the world and already turning in some good performances so far this season, notably reaching the European Masters semi-finals.

It was at the Nuremberg event that he suffered a tough loss, though, losing 6-5 to Judd Trump in the semis after leading 5-4.

He also squandered a 5-2 lead over Ronnie O’Sullivan at the Shanghai masters, losing 6-5 to the Rocket from a commanding position.

Higgins is still winning plenty of matches, but these kind of defeats have been memorable in recent years, losing out in the 2021 Northern Ireland and English Opens in deciding frames after leading, then spurning a 9-4 lead in the 2022 Tour Championship final to lose 10-9 to Neil Robertson.

The Scot is off and running this week at the English Open, beating Marco Fu and James Cahill to make the third round, and he says the disappointing losses of late are nothing new and not getting him down…at least not for long.

‘You’re never okay dealing with them, you’re always a little bit pig sick when you think about it for a couple of days after,’ he said. ‘But listen, I’ve had painful defeats throughout my whole career, it’s not just now.