Welsh Open 2024: John Higgins close to 'exploding' and producing 'unstoppable snooker' - Jimmy White

ByAlex Livie

Published 16/02/2024 at 17:01 GMT

John Higgins has his sights trained on a sixth Welsh Open title after getting the better of Mark Allen in the quarter-finals in Llandudno on Friday. Jimmy White was impressed by the Scot's performance and feels he is close to hitting top gear. Stream top snooker action, including the Welsh Open, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at Eurosport.com.

Jimmy White feels John Higgins’ game is close to exploding into life which would result in him playing “unstoppable snooker”.

Higgins has been on the losing end in four ranking finals and the same number of semi-finals since winning the Players Championship in 2021.

He added another semi-final to his resume when beating Mark Allen at the Welsh Open on Friday.

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The Welsh Open has been a happy hunting ground for Higgins, it is a tournament he has won on five occasions, and the four-time world champion is well fancied to lift it again on Sunday.

A winning outcome for Higgins would come as no surprise to Eurosport pundit White, who feels the Scot saw off a below-par Allen with the minimum of fuss and believes there is more to come.

“John Higgins has not played as well here as he has been,” White said in the Eurosport studio in Llandudno. “But we’ve always spoken about John Higgins’ career, he has always had a good B game. His B game there he won 5-2.

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“Okay, Mark Allen was struggling but John Higgins is close to really exploding and playing well and unstoppable snooker.”

Higgins has started working with a sports psychologist, and White feels it is something that can propel him back to the top of the sport by restoring his confidence.

“By seeing this sports psychologist or whoever he has been talking to has given him some self-confidence,” White said. “He is enjoying it and I think that is the package that he needed to go forward and win tournaments.

“You have never heard John Higgins give himself a gee, but now he is and he is starting to believe.”

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Stream top snooker action, including the Welsh Open, live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at Eurosport.com.

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