SSB - THE 2000s: KING JOHN'S REIGN

[MySockPuppet]

When John Higgins won his first world title in 1998, I assumed he would go on to win four or five.

As it transpires he still might, but this looked unlikely at the mid point of the decade when it appeared as if Higgins had gone off the boil.

He began the 2000s as world no.1 and indeed won its first ranking title, the Welsh Open.

He picked up a second UK title in 2000 and the following year won the first three tournaments of the 2001/02 season.

During the last of these he became a father for the first time. There’s no doubt this had a bearing on his career. Higgins is from a close family and he found himself enjoying home life more than the relentless hours in the club.

He thus went three years between ranking titles before his success in the 2004 British Open and dropped to sixth in the rankings, too low for a player of his ability.

Things changed, though, as the decade wore on. For a variety of reasons he rediscovered his competitive spirit.

In 2005, he compiled four successive centuries and amassed 494 points without reply in destroying Ronnie O’Sullivan 9-2 to win the Grand Prix.

He made a tremendous under pressure 64 clearance to pip O’Sullivan to the 2006 Masters title.

But he had been putting himself under it too much to win the world title again.

His fortunes seemed to turn round after Mark Williams beat him 17-15 from 14-10 down in their 2000 semi-final, a defeat Higgins attributes in large degree to Williams forgetting to shake his hand before their final session.

For five successive years Higgins failed to get past the quarter-finals at Sheffield but in 2007, despite not being in prime form ahead of the 17 day marathon, he went all the way to the title.

Then last season he won a third and demonstrated, in particular against Jamie Cope and Mark Selby, his ability to produce his best snooker while under pressure.

Virtually every professional regards Higgins as the best all round player in the game but also look up to him as a person.

He exudes a friendly, down to earth air despite his success. His fellow players like him and they respect him.

This means he is influential in off table matters, which he has taken a leading role in through the formation of the World Series and the new Snooker Players Association.

Having started the decade as a staunch WPBSA supporter, Higgins ends it as one of the most vocal critics of the governing body.

But it is as a player that he remains prominent. He will most likely end the decade as provisional world no.1 having started it as official no.1.

Despite a few slip ups during the last ten years, this is proof of Higgins’s undoubted class.


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[RocketRoy1983]

Its an interesting subject "Has Higgins under achieved?" Some will say that due to the immense competition faced by Higgins over the years it is still some achievement but we all realise that he shouldve won at least one more world title between 2000 and 2004. Yes I realise Mark J was the man during those times and with O'Sullivan, Hunter and Ebdon amongst those playing great snooker it was a competitive time but it is my opinion that Higgins has not won an amount of trophies that reflects his ability.

[Templeton Peck]

He went 2/3 seasons without winning anything where he should have at least won something so he's maybe 4/5 ranking titles down from what he should be. As for the world championship though there haven't been two many gaps where he can look back and say he probably should have won. I think Williams and O'Sullivan along with Higgins will look back upon 2005 and 2006 world championships as missed opportunities. Both Murphy and Dott played well to win them but Murphy has played better in other tournaments and lost while Dott played just solidly and that was enough that year. I think it was Dott's win that inspired Higgins back to world champion form because it I think he had got to the stage where he felt you had to play super-human snooker to win it and it had become a mental block.

[Odrl]

I could spend all day discussing this man's snooker, but let's keep it to a couple of paragraphs.

For me, John Higgins is the poster boy for the game of snooker. Whenever I think about snooker and why I love it so much, I think of all the different aspects this game has to offer. The art of breakbuilding, when there are 21 balls on the table, and you have to follow all these rules to get to that final black, and it seems impossible sometimes, but the top players do it with relentless consistency. Did you ever turn on the snooker when a player was just clearing the colours, and said to yourself, "Oh, what a shame I missed that..."? And even if I showed you the player's first shot of the break, when all the balls were still on the table, you couldn't know exactly what went on in the following 10 minutes or so. And that's the beauty of snooker, no two frames are alike. But if you watch a sport like alpine skiing, or swimming for example, you have a pretty good picture of what happened just by looking at the results.

And because breakbuilding is so good at the top of the game, every other element is crucial. Finding that little spot on the table, from where the opponent can't start a scoring visit. Or taking a risk on a difficult shot, knowing it might be your last shot of the frame. And all the little scenarios that can happen in a match of snooker. Like those frames you get once in a while, where a colour blocks a pocket, and all the reds slowly start to gather around it. Or those frames where a red goes up the table, and all the safety is played from the black end of the table. When I think of the game in it's entirety, with all the scenarios that can happen, and with every aspect you need to master to win a snooker match, I think of John Higgins.

I like a good diversity of styles, and you certainly get that in snooker, but this guy is at home in any type of match or scenario. I think he got closer to playing perfect snooker under extreme pressure, than any other player in this decade. And even when he was not at his best, he had such a solid B-game in his arsenal, that it usually took a very good player to knock him out of tournaments. Did he underachieve? I don't believe there is such a thing, but that's more a philosophical argument than anything else. He concentrated on things other than snooker in certain periods of his life, but that's just the kind of man he is, and those are the choices he made. But I sure am glad that he had this great couple of seasons recently, and hope he has a few more in the next decade.

My favourite moments of Higgins are the following...

The 2004 British Open. That was the tournament that ended his silverware drought. His wife was pregnant at the time, and was expected to go into labour during the tournament. So Higgins made it known that he would go be with her should that happen. But luckily it didn't, as Higgins was somewhat inspired that week, and played some brilliant snooker. I think he made two or three breaks over 140 in the tournament. He met Shaun Murphy in the SF, and gave him no chance whatsoever, trashing him 6-0. Before the start of the final frame, Murphy turned to the crowd and asked if anybody had any ideas. He then went on the win the WC that season, beating Higgins in the process. Anyway, Higgins played Maguire in the final, in a very high quality match. I think it was only at 6-5 or 6-6 that Higgins pulled away to win.

The 2005 Grand Prix final against O'Sullivan was an amazing performance. It was payback for the Masters final earlier in the year, when O'Sullivan won 10-3. O'Sullivan made some controversial comments after his SF win that upset a lot of fans, I think he was even booed by a couple of people when he was introduced. But that night was all about Higgins and his great scoring, including four centuries. His 494 points without reply that night is still a record, if you discount shot clock snooker. He finally missed one in the final frame, when he went for a red to a baulk pocket, to stay on the black. I bet he wanted to finish with a maximum, but it wasn't to be.

The 2006 Masters final was the greatest match of all three that O'Sullivan and Higgins played in that period. The reason of course being that both players were in great form that day. O'Sullivan made total clearances of 139 and 138 in the 2nd and 3rd frame, and I'm sure most players would crack under that pressure, but Higgins made an excellent reply to take the next five frames. And what great frames they were. The safety exchanges in that 1st session were some of the best I can remember, a lot of it played with most of the balls still on the table. Higgins proved he is a master of that kind of game by ending up as the winner more often than not. The 2nd session was just incredible. O'Sullivan got back to 5-5, 7-7 and 8-8, not having led for a long time. He then led 9-8 and 60-0 in the final frame, pretty much one tricky shot away from victory. I've seen Higgins' clearance so many times, I can play every shot in my head without watching a video. It was something like 2am here, but I stayed up for hours. Who could sleep after that? The greatest match of the decade? Might well be...

And then there are his two WC wins. He had to beat O'Sullivan, Maguire and Selby in 2007. It seems like a tough draw, but I think he was not at his best that year. Which only speaks in his favour of course. He played his solid B-game most of the time, but he did need to raise it on a couple of occasions. He was in trouble against Maguire, 10-14 down after three sessions, and it could have been 9-15, had Maguire not gone in-off the final black in one frame. But Higgins then played a very strong final session and managed to crack Maguire. It got very nervy towards the end, with both players missing a couple, but the momentum was with Higgins. The final was a match of two halves, Higgins opening a huge gap on the first day, but then Selby dug deep, and grew in confidence with each frame he won. When Selby got within a frame of Higgins in the final session, that's where Higgins played his best snooker of the tournament. He suddenly started to score again, and hardly made a mistake in the last couple of frames. It was well over 1am here, with four more possible frames that were not played, but I kind of wish they were.

The 2009 Championship was in my opinion a better one, as far as Higgins' play is concerned. There were a couple of classic matches. I predicted Higgins would outplay Cope in the 2nd round, especially in the safety exchanges, but Cope played brilliantly and almost got him. The scoring was great (ok, the tables were a bit suspect, but still...), and when Higgins was coming back from 10-12, the drama was such that people were struggling to cope with it in the audience. There was nothing Cope could have done though, Higgins played three almost perfect frames. Not by making three maximums, but by taking his chances in one visit, and not giving Cope any. Then there was the QF against Selby, which I also regard as one of my favourite matches of all time. Selby opened with three centuries before Higgins hit back with four great frames. They kept the standard for the entire match, and Higgins again had to play perfect snooker to get over the line. What a break he made in that final frame, insane. The rest of the tournament was slightly easier for Higgins, but he did play a couple of great sessions against Allen as well as Murphy.

Looking forward to more of the same from Higgins, he is the provisional number 1 after all.