John Higgins suggests big retirement farewell after crashing to Tour Championship loss

John Higgins has suggested this could be his final year as a snooker player, with the Wizard of Wishaw looking ahead to retirement. The 48-year-old crashed out of the Tour Championship in the first round, having been beaten by Mark Allen at the event in Manchester.

It proved to be a topsy-turvy affair between Allen and Higgins, with the latter establishing an early lead. Higgins won four of the first five frames to give himself a healthy advantage, before Allen dug deep and levelled the game at 4-4 ahead of the interval.

Following that, Higgins was playing catch-up for most of the contest, with Allen eventually securing progression into the last eight with a 10-7 win. It’s left Higgins pondering his options, with the Scot even hinting at a possible retirement.

On his future in snooker, Higgins told ITV: “I thought Mark played very well tonight. I should have been in front today, 4-4. then I thought Mark played better tonight.

“I missed two or three unforgivable balls at this level. You cannot afford to miss and my long game was really non-existent as well. At this level it’s not good enough against the best players. I just need to dust myself down. A couple of weeks before the Worlds, try and get some good practice and go there and give it a final go, maybe?”

Higgins is no stranger to success. He’s notched up an impressive 31 ranking titles during his three-decade-long career, making him the third-most successful snooker player ever. But, this isn’t the first time Higgins has flirted with potential retirement.

“It’s a hard one, it’s a hard one really. Who knows?” Higgins told The Metro back in January when asked about plans to retire. “I love the game, I love playing it, I love competing in it.

“It’s just the off-table side of it, with the practice and different things where I’m just slowly losing that edge to put the practice in and put myself out there. You can’t have one without the other. It’s a hard one. But right here and now I should be looking at the positives and going there and giving my all.”

Higgins now has the best part of three weeks to prepare himself for the World Championships in Sheffield. The world No.10 is unlikely to enter the competition as one of the favourites, but as a four-time winner of the World Championships already, he knows exactly what it takes to come out on top at the Crucible.