Trump can dominate

Higgins overcame Bristol youngster Trump 18-15 to win his fourth World Championship last May, but the Scotsman feels the new UK champion is a figure on the rise in every sense.

Trump, 22, has built on his success in winning the China Open and reaching the world final last season by lifting the UK Championship in December.

He is attempting to join an exclusive club of players to claim the sport's major three tournaments of UK Championship, the Masters and the World Championship.

Only multiple world champions Davis, Hendry and Mark Williams have achieved the feat in a single season.

Speaking after reaching the Masters quarter-final with a 6-2 win over Matthew Stevens at Alexandra Palace, Higgins said: "There is nothing stopping Judd from dominating. He looks carefree when he gets in among the balls.

"The standard is very high among the top 16. When Hendry and Davis were dominating, they only had three or four people to worry about.

"Judd has got a lot of players playing to a high standard. It will be difficult but if any player can do it, it would be Judd.

"You have to remember that Judd has served his apprenticeship. People have known about him since he was 13, and he was four or five years trying to win a tournament before he managed it at the China Open. That has just catapulted his confidence, really."

Trump faces Ronnie O'Sullivan in the Masters quarter-finals on Thursday in a match that is already a sell-out at a venue that can hold 1500.

Higgins continued: "When Ronnie O'Sullivan won the UK Championship in the early 1990s, that made me try extra hard to get better.

"Stephen Hendry was never my target, because people around the same age are the benchmark I would say.

"I don't think myself, Ronnie or Mark Williams are too worried about Judd. Obviously, he is a great champion.

"We've won what we've won so far, and obviously we are trying to win more events. The younger players - such as Mark Selby, Neil Robertson, Mark Allen and Shaun Murphy - will not enjoy Judd getting so many headlines and column inches, whether or not they admit it in public, because everybody is expecting him to be the next player to dominate.

"Some of those boys don't have family commitments, and really have the time to try to stay with Judd.

"But I think Judd is great for the sport. When I was younger, and Ronnie was getting so much attention, it made you sort of jealous - well, maybe not jealous - but you were aware that you could do most things he could do on the table.

"Now we really have two box office draws in snooker with Ronnie and Judd. That has to be great for the game."