John Higgins hungry to return to the Crucible amid rumours of a breakaway tour in snooker

By Chris Hammer

Snooker

Thu May 02, 2024 · 6M ago

John Higgins insists he's not been approached about potentially joining a rumoured breakaway tour and is committed to returning to the Crucible again.

The four-time world champion's hopes of lifting the famous trophy for a fifth time - and first since 2011 - were ended by Kyren Wilson in the quarter-finals but he was quick to brush aside any talk that this was his final match at snooker's spiritual home.

Higgins had been linked with a prospective LIV-style breakaway during the build-up to this year's edition, which peaked with his incredible 13-12 victory over Mark Allen, while fellow legend Mark Williams fuelled the speculation following his first-round exit.

But Scotsman was full of positivity about the future despite the disappointment of defeat and said: "I'm committing to playing snooker now and I’m committing to trying to get back here. I don’t want that to be my final match at the Crucible. So, I’ll still be playing snooker.

"It’s the equivalent of the LIV golf for players realistic enough to think they're not going to win the majors anymore"

John Higgins understands why some players would be tempted by a breakaway tour in snooker but he wants to return to the Crucible. pic.twitter.com/3SYY5JQvG2
— Chris Hammer (@ChrisHammer180) May 2, 2024

"I think 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."

Earlier in the tournament Judd Trump revealed he rejected offers to join a rival tour, claiming he "needs something with history and heritage".

Asked if he'd been approached, Higgins said: "No. But there’s a lot of hearsay and a lot of people talking telephone numbers and different things.

"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."