Favourite John Higgins for the 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship
The Wizard of Wishaw, John Higgins, is on top of the list for the upcoming 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship which is going to be staged from 16 April – 3 May at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield, England.
35-year-old Scottish, Higgins, has been in a tremendous form ever since he has returned to the world of snooker after a period of six months He was suspended for agreeing upon throwing the frames away deliberately. He was also fined GBP75,000 for the same
reason but later on all cleared off all charges.
Three-time world champion, Higgins, returned to the game on 12 November 2010 and started off by winning the European Players Tour Championship held at Germany. He also reached the finals of the Prague Classic where he lost 3-4 to Michael Holt. However in
the UK Championship, which was his first tournament on British soil, he made one of the greatest come-backs to register a dramatic 10-9 win over Mark Williams.
Higgins was also the one of the favourites for the German Masters tournament but after defeating Robert Milkins 5-3 in the first round, he pulled himself out as his father died due to cancer. He returned in the Welsh Open tournament, once again as a tournament’s
favourite player and trashed Stephen Maguire by a frame score of 9-6 in the final to defend his title.
He lost his battle to Stephen Maguire by a frame score of 5-2 in the quarter-final round of Bank of the Beijing China Open tournament. However, early wins in the tournament were enough for him to regain his number one spot back.
After losing the China Open tournament, Higgins said there is no point of looking back and he is lucky, as he can put things off his mind.
Now once again the winner of 23 ranking titles, John Higgins, has been nominated as the tournament’s favourite player for the most prestigious event in snooker.
Next week Higgins, who will be one-on-one against the former 2005 world champion Stephen Lee in the last 32 round, said that it is going to be tough but if he plays his best game he has a chance to go all the way. The Chairman of Matchroom Sport, Barry Hearn,
has also agreed with him on this.
It’s not an easy clash for Higgins in the first round, as Lee is also a player who can produce a tournament-winning game at any stage of the game. However let’s see if Higgins once again lives up to everybody’s expectations.
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