John Higgins feels he is a long way off retirement and is committed to playing at the Crucible again after a World Snooker Championship quarter-final exit on Wednesday night.
The Wizard of Wishaw was beaten 13-8 by Kyren Wilson in Sheffield, with the Warrior continuing the thoroughly impressive form he has shown so far this event.
The Scot had no complaints, saying: ‘He was far too powerful for me. He played great. It was a brilliant performance.’
The 48-year-old has hinted over the last couple of years that retirement may not be far off, while he has also been linked with the much talked about possibility of a breakaway tour.
However, he was in a very positive mood after defeat to Wilson and is looking forward to starting the journey back to the Crucible at the beginning of next season.
‘I’m committing to playing snooker now and I’m committing to trying to get back here,’ said the four-time world champion. ‘I don’t want that to be my final match at the Crucible. So, I’ll still be playing snooker.
‘I think it [retirement] is [a long time away]. There can be other things happening off the table that can be clouding your decisions. But right now it’s a long way away. The sport will have to retire me before I retire myself, simple as that.’
A number of players have addressed the possibility of playing the game away from World Snooker Tour next season, with Judd Trump dismissing the possibility, while Kyren Wilson said he was considering his options and Jack Lisowski admitted a move was tempting.
Higgins said that a move elsewhere for guaranteed money could make sense for someone, like him, in the latter stages of their career, but said it would be extremely difficult to end his chances of playing at the Crucible again.
‘There’s a lot of hearsay and a lot of people talking telephone numbers and different things,’ he said of offers from elsewhere. ‘Listen, I’m at a different stage of my career to someone like Judd Trump. He’ll be delighted to be trying to win these big events and different things, but if people are coming to offer certain players good amounts of money and the schedule could be a bit less hectic, you’d obviously have to listen to it and look at it.
‘It’s the equivalent of the LIV golf, it would be guys like Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood being offered huge amounts. They’re maybe realistic enough to think they’re not going to win the majors anymore. I’d dearly love to still win majors, but I’ve got to be brutally honest, I’ve not won a major for three years.
‘But right now, I don’t want this to be the last time I’m playing at the Crucible and if there had to be a choice between going to a tour where you’re not going to be playing at the Crucible again it would be such a difficult decision.’
Higgins has suffered some painful defeats over the last couple of years as he looks to get back to winning major titles, but he looked in an entirely different mood after this loss to other recent ones.
He puts that down to a new cue that he is very happy with, while his epic deciding-frame, final black win over Mark Allen in the previous round will not have hurt.
‘Probably maybe 10 days ago when I got the new cue, it gave me fresh impetus,’ he said of his turnaround in mood.
‘The way I’ve come down and felt and enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed the battles and enjoyed being out there.
‘Aye, I feel a lot better. I’ve come off here and I’m obviously disappointed but you’ve just got to tip your hat to the other guy sometimes and say good luck to him.’
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