Nottingham’s Michael Holt may not have shown anything in the way of form this season until this point but he tonight he has shocked world number two John Higgins 4-3 to become the 12th winner of a PTC event this season and secure a place in the PTC finals at the expense of Barry Hawkins.
Wow, who saw that one coming? Having been away from the game for over six months, John Higgins has tonight defeated Shaun Murphy to win the EPTC5 event on his comeback. John as a result moves up to number 2 on my projected seedings list and becomes the latest first-time winner of a PTC event.
Wow.
All eyes were on the returning John Higgins yesterday in Hamm as fans wondered what sort of form he would be in on his first match in over six months against Joe Jogia, but so far at least it is like he has never been away. Click below for a more and a link to all the latest results from Hamm…
Apologies for the lack of posts over the last few days, unfortunately things have been a bit hectic away from the blog, but as John Higgins prepares to make his return to the competitive arena, here is a reminder of one of the most exciting matches that I can remember, the 2006 Masters final.
As the comments to my previous article on John recently showed, he has some way to go before the fans are won over, but on the table at least there can be disputing his talent…
A lot has happened since that famous afternoon on the 24th April 2010 when the then reigning world champion John Higgins crashed out of the World Championship following a shock 13-11 defeat to Steve Davis. Over six months on however, one of the sport’s greatest ever players prepares to wait his long awaited competitive return to the sport at the EPTC5 event in Hamm…
A final word today on John Higgins following the recent events which have seen him cleared of match-fixing as there is as ever another intriguing piece over at the Sporting Intelligence website detailing just how exactly he was cleared of the more serious charges levelled against him.
Also a word for the Guardian which is today running a must-read interview with the Scot, talking about not only the match-fixing allegations but also the very sad news in relation to his father who is now suffering from terminal cancer, the news being confirmed the day after John junior was cleared. I wish all of the family the best at what can only be a difficult time.
Much has been said about the verdict of the John Higgins saga but having recently filmed a television interview with Hazel Irvine, UK viewers can now hear from the man himself over at the BBC website here.
Provisional rankings, official rankings, projected seedings – whatever list you go by, there is guaranteed to be a new world number one following the conclusion of the World Open which begins tomorrow…