John Higgins cannot see himself going to qualifiers for big events, expecting to hang up his cue when he falls out of the world’s top 16.
That does not look imminent by any stretch, having just reached the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible.
The 50-year-old only narrowly missed out on a ninth final, losing 17-15 to Shaun Murphy in a brilliant contest in Sheffield.
Higgins beat Ali Carter, Ronnie O’Sullivan and Neil Robertson on his way to the semis, falling just short of becoming the oldest Triple Crown finalist ever.
The Wizard of Wishaw turns 51 this month and, despite clearly being among the game’s elite, he feels he is nearing the end of his immense career.
The deal to keep the World Championship at the Crucible has been extended until 2045, although the tournament will move away briefly after the 2028 edition to complete a renovation project.
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It will certainly be temporarily rehomed for one year, possibly two, and Higgins feels he is unlikely to play at the revamped Crucible in 2030 or beyond.
‘I definitely think I’ll be here until they start work on it, I think. I’m not being big-headed, but I think I will be here competing,’ Higgins said ahead of this year’s World Championship.
‘But I think, as people are speculating on it, it could be two years until you then come back to playing it. I think I’ll be doing well to be back here playing it. Yeah, I think so.’
Having been a seeded player at every World Championship dating back to 1996, Higgins cannot see him motivating himself to go to the qualifiers, if he was no longer in the top 16.
‘I don’t think I can see myself having to qualify for big events,’ he said. ‘I know we have to qualify for a lot of the Chinese events, but I think other players are doing that, so I could be on the next table and go to a Mark Selby or a Neil Robertson who’s qualifying for the same event.
‘But I don’t know if I would like to go to qualifiers when I know the other best players are already seeded into these big events. I don’t know if I could handle that.
‘I don’t think so. No, I don’t think so. Not when I think I’ve been doing it for so long at a certain position.’
He added: ‘You could just go on that downward spiral and you don’t ever think you’re going to go off it to get back up there.’
Higgins will hope to be back at the business end at the Crucible again, but admits he expects it to get harder each year.
‘It’s getting more difficult,’ he said. ‘There’s some great players coming along that have got the hunger and the fight and the desire to get their names on that trophy, so it’s an uphill battle.’
Murphy certainly feel like he was playing a man nearing retirement, saying after the semi-final: ‘I’m exhausted, I’m over the moon.
‘A match with John, four sessions, World semi-final. It doesn’t get much more difficult than that.
‘What a player, what a man. The harder it gets, the better he seems to play. No wonder he’s been such a great champion over the years. And if I’m half the player that he is when I’m in my 50s, then I feel like I’ve done something right.’