27 April 2023 , 11:39
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John Higgins hinted at retirement after his self-confessed "poor season" ended with a quarter-final defeat at the World Championship.
The Scot, a four-time champion at the Crucible, breezed past David Grace and Kyren Wilson in the early rounds of this year's tournament. His run came to an end in the last eight, though, with number two seed Mark Selby beating him 13-7.
With only two of the top eight seeds reaching the final four, thanks in part to Ronnie O'Sullivan's surprise defeat, Selby is well in the mix to add a fifth world title of his own. For Higgins, though, it's a time for reflection.
"Poor season, no getting away from that," the Wizard of Wishaw said. "I’ll definitely have to come back next year and produce a better standard and have a better season.
"If not it will look like I’m probably falling out of the top 16, then when you do that, there could be a few questions in my own mind, I suppose." When pushed on whether those questions were about retirement, he said "We’ll need to wait and see next year..
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"Even when you’re in the top 16, it’s as if you’re playing a series of qualifiers anyway," he continued. "So it’s not like it’s a totally alien situation you’d be putting yourself in. But if that had to come I’d be nearly 50…so we’ll wait and see."
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John Higgins opened up an early lead before losing to Mark Selby (PA)
Selby is up against number three seed Mark Allen in his semi-final. In the other half of the draw, O'Sullivan's conqueror Luca Brecel is taking on Si Jiahui after the unseeded 20-year-old got past former world champion Shaun Murphy along the way.
"I thought I played faultless really from the start," Selby - who also beat Higgins in the 2017 final - told BBC Sport. Higgins led 3-0 and 4-1 in the best-of-25 match-up, only for the Jester from Leicester to rally to win 13-7.
"To get the first frame on the board was key. You can't give someone of John's class a four-frame lead. Then at 4-1 I had an outrageous fluke in the middle and if it goes 5-1 it is a completely different game.
"When I feel like I have had to do it [answer questions], I have done it which has been pleasing because that has been missing for a little while and only gives me confidence."
"I played a terrible first frame today when it should have definitely gone 5-4 in front and from then on it was all downhill for me and Mark got stronger and he totally took me apart," Higgins said of his performance.
"His safety was incredible and I was in bad positions all day. He is an incredible animal on a snooker table, he just doesn't let you breathe. He is a master at the game of snooker."