It is heartening to see Andrew Higginson finally making some progress some 11 years into his professional career.
He was relegated from the main tour two years ago having enjoyed little success - just one appearance in the last 48 of a ranking event.
But Higginson carried on, finished second in the Pontin's International Open Series, and is now a man reborn.
The 29 year-old from Widnes beat Jimmy White and Steve Davis en route to the last 16 of this season's Malta Cup and last night came from 3-0 down to beat John Higgins 5-3 and reach the same stage of the Welsh Open in Newport, describing it as "without a shadow of a doubt the best victory of my career."
Higginson used to practice at Widnes Snooker Centre but left for the perfectly good reason that it burned down.
He himself has now risen from the ashes of disappointment and frustration that is common currency for the circuit's journeymen fighting it out at the qualifiers.
Higginson could easily have given up the sport when things were going badly so his determination and sheer effort in achieving success should be applauded.
He's worked hard for his day in the sun and is sure to enjoy it.
2 comments:
Dave,
He truly played inspired snooker from 0-3 down.
Higgins mentioned afterwards how he had been practicing hard and he doesn't know what is happening at the moment.
But, he played well for 3 frames and then imploded! Take nothing away from Higginson, though. For a player with limited TV time and, latter stages of tournaments, he seemed composed and didn't show any signs of nerves to close out the match.
Any news on why the authorities didn't give special dispensation to Stevens not to wear a bow-tie, even though he had a note from his doctor? Hendry had a similar case passed in Malta a fortnight ago.
Also, did Ding play poorly or did Cope find his Grand Prix form in beating the Chinese star?
Thanks, Joe
No idea why Stevens was forced to wear the bowtie - seems like a huge inconsistency after what happened with Hendry, not least because Matthew had a doctor's note.
Ding was outplayed, though I wonder if what happened at the Masters is still affecting him.
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