John Higgins aims to perform well at the 2012 Welsh Open – Snooker news
Scotland’s John Higgins is preparing to defend his title in the upcoming 2012 Welsh Open that he claimed last year after beating compatriot Stephen Maguire by the score line of 9-6 in the final encounter at the Newport Centre in Newport, Wales. All top dogs
of snooker will be present at the venue again and Higgins believes that the event will feature thrilling competitions.
The Scot is determined to retain his title and he is practising in his hometown club. He feels that he was not able to perform well in the 2012 Masters just because he did not have much practice sessions before the event. He crashed out of the 2012 German
Masters facing a whitewash defeat at the hands of Maguire in Round 2.
Despite the fact that the Scotsman dominated the game in the last season with some outstanding major ranking wins like the World Snooker Championship, the UK Championship and the Welsh Open, Higgins is struggling in the current season. After his downfall,
Higgins reckons that a little bit more practice at the baize would have changed the face of his performance in the 2011-12 Snooker Season.
“Over the Christmas period I was sitting at home and it would have been a good time to have two or three hours a day of practice without having to go to the club. I ended up going into the Masters with only a few hours practice under my belt, which cost
me,” explained the 36-year-old Scot.
He will be heading to Newport quite soon to take part in the 2012 Welsh Open, where the likes of Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump, Mark Selby, Mark Williams, Ding Junhui and Stephen Maguire will be present. The Wizard of Wishaw believes that the tournament
will feature excellent snooker matches.
He said, “The tour is growing and there are some great players coming through. It's an exciting time to be a player and hopefully to be a fan as well. Anyone who comes to Newport is going so see brilliant matches. And it's fast moving action as well because
the matches are best of seven frames.”
The 2012 Welsh Open snooker tournament will commence on February 13 and the qualifiers for the event will be held between February 8 and 11.
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