John Higgins wins his first match on return to snooker
John Higgins made a winning return to snooker after he beat Joe Jogia 4-2 in the first round of the European Tour Championship in Germany on Friday 12 November.
The three-time World Champion was suspended from playing snooker for six months after he was found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute for failing to report an illegal match fixing approach.
Prior to his return Higgins told the BBC that, "I'm a bit nervous about how the [other] players are going to take to me."
Higgins was secretly filmed by journalists from the News of the World newspaper who were posing as representatives of an illegal betting syndicate.
The player was offered money to lose frames, but the Scot was cleared of fixing matches.
"It's cost me a great deal and it's a stigma I'll probably never, ever get rid of it. I hope I will, but I'm not sure. I just want to get back playing and maybe people will see me for what I am," Higgins said.
The current World Champion Neil Robertson has only just replaced the Scot as the world’s top ranked player, despite Higgins not playing for six months.
Higgins showed glimpses of his class as he made a break of 50 to put him into a commanding 2-0 lead. Jogia managed to reduce the deficit to one in a scrappy fourth frame, before Higgins added another.
Jogia was lucky to make it 3-2 after Higgins missed a green, but the Scot sealed the victory to make the score 4-2.
Higgins will now face Dave Harold in a best-of-seven frame match, in the last 16 of the competition. If Higgins beats Harold, he is likely to face the world number-16 Mark King.
Robertson, Ronnie O’Sullivan, Stephen Hendry and Graham Dott are all still involved in the competition, but Higgins will be pleased of a first win after his controversial return.
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