John Higgins claims that a Players Championship fan laughed after putting him off at a crucial moment in his win over Chris Wakelin. The pair’s last-16 clash went down to a final-frame decider, with Wakelin building a break of 51 to take the early advantage.
The door was left ajar for Higgins when Wakelin missed a red, and he took it clinically to book his spot in the quarter-finals. But things nearly went pear-shaped for the Scot when, at a vital point in his comeback, he spied a spectator at the Telford International Centre seemingly trying to put him off.
“It was just a guy when I was going into the green pocket,” Higgins told SportsBoom. “He started handing something over to his mate. And then, like he was, he’s laughing at me as if he’s sort of put me off.”
Thankfully for the 49-year-old, he held his nerve to squeeze past Wakelin and march on at this year’s Players Championship. The Wizard of Wishaw came into the tournament in fine form, having picked up his first ranking title in four years at the World Open earlier this month.
He followed that up with a run to the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix, which included impressive wins over Ali Carter and Kyren Wilson.
Now he has taken Wakelin’s scalp, and Higgins was buzzing to get one over on the player ranked 13th on the one-year list. “He’s a good player, Chris,” the four-time world champion continued. “He’s really improved in the last couple of years.
“That’s a big win for me. It was massive. Even in that last frame there, you know when things are going for you. I fancied Chris to miss that red. Whereas if I’ve not won the event and you’re maybe struggling for confidence, I wouldn’t clear up from there.”
Having been taken to the wire by Wakelin, Higgins must now prepare to face Xiao Guodong in the quarters. The veteran is still riding the wave of his World Open triumph and he hopes to milk it for everything it’s worth.
He said: “It’s a crazy game that I’ve played for far too long, you’ve just got to enjoy it when things are going good because there are far more downs in this game than there are ups. It’s the highest I’ve felt for years since I won my last ranking event, absolutely.”