Heroic Holt halts Higgins charge

Michael Holt will admit his performances have been disappointing so far this season.

It's exactly this reason that has seen him slump to 42nd in the world rankings.

But this weekend in Prague, he pulled out all the stops to win the EPTC6 and announce his return to top form.

This is undoubtedly the biggest triumph of Holt's snooker career, and no-one can argue about the manner of his win In the final, he overturned John Higgins 4-3, sending the Scot to his first defeat in 14 games since his return to the circuit.

The Wizard of Wishaw has been in sensational nick over the last two weekend, but Holt was on top of his game.

In the last four, Holt beat Order of Merit leader Shaun Murphy. His heroics also saw him overcome fellow top 16 players Stephen Maguire, Mark Selby and Jamie Cope as well. Off the back of this remarkable performance, he won himself £10,000, 2,000 much-needed rankings points and a place in the PTC series finals.

So all in all, it's been a terrific weekend for the Nottinghamshire lad. I've got to say on personal note, I'm really chuffed for him.

Holt has always been one of my favourite players on the circuit. I love the passion he has for the game, the emotion he shows when he's playing and, it's great to watch one of the true characters in the sport.

It's always nice to see players of that ilk succeed. It's refreshing to see such a likeable lad doing well. When you see a players' frustrations flooding out  when they're at the table, it brings the whole game to life.

It shows, despite all their deadly talent, they're human as well. Holt lets everyone in the crowd know when he's having a bad day. For me, I warm to that. It brings you closer to a player, even though you may not have ever spoken to them.

Because of it, you understand their feelings. You can see they care, so you care for them.

Enough of that though, despite a poor start to this campaign, Holt seems to have really come of age on the circuit in recent seasons, showing that maybe life as a pro begins for him in his 30s. He's been a pro for some 14 years now, and probably his inability to play the mental game as well as other players has stunted his progress.

But a couple of years back, he seemed to make great strides in this area of the game. It's important to note you don't beat Higgins and Murphy without a mental game either. So now he's shrugged off what was a poor start to the season, his performance in Prague suggests the best could be to come, and the timing couldn't be any better, as he kicks off his UK Championship qualifiers this week.