John Higgins maintained that the criticism of the Wizard of Wishaw in recent years was the fault of Ronnie O’Sullivan. After fending off a comeback to secure his spot in the tournament’s last four, the 48-year-old overcame Tom Ford 5-3 in the quarterfinals of the Scottish Open.
A common complaint of the five-time World Snooker Championship winner, Higgins, is that his form has declined over the last two years. O’Sullivan believes that his opponent has not been able to win when he is not playing at his best. When Higgins’ lead appeared to be slipping away from him, he demonstrated his tenacity against Ford.
Higgins surged ahead early to take a commanding 3-0 lead, but in the fourth frame, Higgins missed a straightforward red, and things started to go Ford’s way. Higgins overcame the 40-year-old’s comeback to lead 3-3, winning the next two sets to set up a semifinal matchup with Noppon Saengkham.
O’Sullivan hopes that Higgins can show such resilience more often as he quizzed his rival after the match for Eurosport. He asked: “Feeling alright? You OK? I was just saying I always watch your matches and you seem like you’re flying and then you have a little match where you don’t play so well and you’ll lose.
