German Masters snooker: John Higgins uses sports psychologist to boost title bid in Berlin – 'I can’t rely on myself'
Updated 02/02/2024 at 12:58 GMT
John Higgins had been on the receiving end against Mark Allen in recent times, but the Scot flipped the tables at the Tempodrom in Berlin on Thursday as he claimed a 5-2 win to book his place in the quarter-finals of the German Masters. Ali Carter is the defending champion and he remains on course for a repeat win after getting the better of Zak Surety courtesy of a whitewash.
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John Higgins produced a polished performance to beat Mark Allen 5-2 and book his place in the quarter-finals of the German Masters.
Higgins started in impressive fashion and despite Allen threatening a turnaround, the four-time world champion held firm to set up a meeting with Judd Trump, who later hit three centuries in a 5-2 win over Thepchaiya Un-Nooh.
The Scotsman is hoping the help of a sports psychologist can give him an edge as he chases a first major title since the 2021 Players Championship.
Higgins has lost in five finals over the past three years, but feels his potting prospects will be enhanced by embracing mind over matter.
“I’m trying to have a different mindset. I’m doing a few things off the table to try and get my mind right, which I’ve never done in my career. It is early days, but it seems to be helping just now," Higgins told reporters afterwards.
“I’ve got to do it. I can’t rely on myself. I’m not good enough to rely on myself. I maybe need a wee bit of help.
“I’m speaking to a person just to try and have good thoughts. For too long now, I’ve had negative thoughts. It is pleasing. I was 3-0 in front there and missed a blue to go 4-0. Mark came back to 3-2 and in other matches I might have thought I’d lose 5-3. There were more positive thoughts and it worked out."
Allen was kept cold in the early exchanges, as Higgins raced into a two-frame lead.
The Northern Irishman did have a chance in the third, only to run out of position and fail to knock in a difficult plant.
Higgins punished the error with a superb break of 103, but it was the Scot’s turn to make a costly mistake in the fourth which allowed Allen a foothold in the contest at the interval.
Allen left a red in the jaws of the bottom left when making weak contact with the long rest in the fifth, but he was not punished by Higgins and returned to the table to cut the gap to one frame.
Higgins stopped the rot with a run of 41 in the sixth to get within one of the winning line at the Tempodrom in Berlin.
The Scot has lost a number of matches from dominant positions in the past couple of seasons, and Allen had the chance to test Higgins’ resolve when working through a break of 43 in the seventh frame, but he broke down to hand his opponent a chance at closing out the match.
Higgins did not pass it up, as a break of 69 snapped a three-match losing run against Allen and secured his spot in the quarter-finals of the German Masters for the first time.
Defending champion Ali Carter was not at his best, but produced solid snooker to secure a whitewash 5-0 win over Zak Surety.
Meanwhile, after losing the opening two frames against Julien Leclerc, Ryan Day ran through breaks of 72, 68, 74, 87 and 54 to wrap up a 5-2 win.
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