Some familiar faces will be making the trip to the excellent South West Snooker Academy with another round of ranking points up for grabs, but the big news is the return of four-time world champion John Higgins.
 |
| Picture by Monique Limbos |
An extended summer after a humiliating defeat to Stephen Hendry at the Crucible is a luxury he could afford after victories at the UK Championship, World Championship and Welsh Open in 2010/11 season meaning he stills sits pretty as the world number seven.
But following a disappointing campaign last time out where he reached the semi-final of only major event, at the Masters, before being safely dispatched by Shaun Murphy 6-4.
The entire season made for unpleasant reading but a few words at the World Championship press launch in April shed plenty of light on the situation.
Higgins points the finger of blame squarely on his own head when it comes to explaining his underachievement last season. He admits says poor preparation was his predominant problem.
He went on to explain how that will all change now and he's ready to have another real good crack at it. You can expect his preparations to be thorough and well polished.
A motivated John Higgins is still a very dangerous snooker animal. It's an old cliche that he has the best B-game in snooker but, if he can find out, his A-game is sensational. His tactical awareness superb, his break-building clinical and his temperament unshakable. When he's bang in form, he can give Ronnie O'Sullivan at his very best a fight. In fact, he might be the only player the Rocket fears.
The thought of these two both competing in a major final in top form this season is something special. It will take Higgins a bit of time to get back to his glorious best but this weekend is the start of this path and a sure sign he's ready for warfare on the baize again.
It's time to unleash the Wizard.
No comments:
Post a Comment