DAY FOUR SUMMARY: HIGGINS TURNS TO SPORT PSYCHOLOGIST
John Higgins revealed he’s enlisted the help of a sport psychologist for the first time in his career, after beating Mark Allen 5-2 at the BetVictor German Masters in Berlin.
The Scot suffered a cruel 6-5 defeat at the hands of Allen last month at the Masters. At that point decided he needed to take action on the mental side of his game and to work with a psychologist.
Higgins picked up the most recent of his 31 career ranking titles nearly three years ago at the 2021 Players Championship. He’s suffered a number of gut-wrenching losses in the years which followed. The Scot has appeared in five finals since and ended runner-up in all of them. His defeat to Allen at Alexandra Place was the final straw.
The off table work appeared to be helping four-time Crucible king Higgins’ performance in the arena this afternoon. He crafted breaks of 76, 103 and 69 during a match which he dominated to book a spot in the quarter-finals against Judd Trump, who defeated Thepcaiya Un-Nooh and secured the £150,000 BetVictor Series Bonus in the process.
“I’m trying to have a different mindset. I’m doing a few things off the table to try and get my mind right, which I’ve never done in my career. It is early days but it seems to be helping just now.”
John Higgins
Four-time World Champion
“I’ve got to do it. I can’t rely on myself. I’m not good enough to rely on myself. I maybe need a wee bit of help,” added 48-year-old Higgins.
“I’m speaking to a person just to try and have good thoughts. For too long now I’ve had negative thoughts. It is pleasing. I was 3-0 in front there and missed a blue to go 4-0. Mark came back to 3-2 and in other matches I might have thought I’d lose 5-3. There were more positive thoughts and it worked out.”
Former German Masters winner Kyren Wilson emerged victorious after a hard fought encounter with 2010 World Champion Neil Robertson, winning 5-3. Next up is a quarter-final clash with Fan Zhengyi, who defeated Tom Ford 5-3.
Defending champion Ali Carter eased to the last eight with a 5-0 demolition of fellow Essex cueman Zak Surety. Carter now plays Sam Craigie, after he scored a thrilling 5-4 win over Xu Si.
World Championship semi-finalist Si Jiahui defeated Chinese compatriot Yuan Sijun 5-3 to book his quarter-final slot. He now faces Welshman Ryan Day, who came through 5-2 over Belgian 20-year-old Julian Leclercq.
And hereafter is WST piece on Judd Trump’s bonus story (link in the text above)
TRUMP LANDS BV BONUS WITH EVENT TO SPARE
Judd Trump put on a stunning display to beat Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 5-2 and reach the quarter-finals of the BetVictor German Masters, scooping the £150,000 BetVictor Series bonus in the process.
It’s the third time Trump has landed the lucrative payout, having won the series in 2020 and 2021. The prize is given to the player who accumulates the most prize money over the eight qualifying events.
Trump took home the title at the BetVictor English Open and the BetVictor Northern Ireland Open, as well as being runner-up at the BetVictor European Masters. That, combined with his performance this week, means he takes home the prize with an event to spare ahead of this month’s BetVictor Welsh Open.
The Ace in the Pack was in scintillating form this evening, crafting breaks of 110, 132 and 80 en route to a 4-0 advantage at the mid-session. When play resumed, Un-Nooh hit back with breaks of 53 and 74 to halve his arrears. However, Trump fired over the line with a brilliant break of 139 to secure victory. He now faces a quarter-final clash with John Higgins.
Trump said: “I knew going into that game what I needed to do. There was that added incentive, that added bit of pressure. It wasn’t just a normal game. When I can play somewhere near my best it is always special, especially in that kind of arena, in that atmosphere.
“I’m very pleased to win it again. I’ve been consistent in all of the events. It is something that I look for at the start of a season. I try to lift the series every year. To do it with one event to go is good.”
TRUMP ON SERIES TRIUMPH
John Higgins turning to a sports psychologist for help surprised me a bit because, a few years ago, that was something he would never have considered. It seems to work for him though.
I’m not sure there is a player more “money driven” than Judd Trump. He’s a strong supporter of the Saudi Arabia coming event and would love having more events in Saudi Arabia too.
Here is Hendry discussing it as reported on twitter:
Julien Leclercq also lost yesterday, but his results in this event see him climb into the top 64 … just. His “cushion” over Sanderson Lam, currently 65th, is only 500 points. He’s also ranked 64th on the provisional one year list but he hasn’t qualified for the 2024 World Open and, as it stands, would become second on the “rescue” list should he drop out of the top 64. But, as always, it will all be about the World Championship…
It’s an interesting comment about Trump being more money-driven than most. I can see why that would be said, but I think the truth is more that he’s very naive, and especially blind to the notion that there’s more to life than money. To him, Saudi Arabia is good because money = glitz and glamour, and he can’t see beyond the superficial excitement of that. This is, after all, a man who *chooses* to holiday in Dubai.
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Don’t think we should criticise a professional for being ‘money driven’.
If Judd reckons that he can pocket an extra £150k on top of the normal prize money by winning a few small-time events that his opponents don’t take overly seriously, and goes and does it, then good luck to him. I can’t remember who commented on here a couple of years ago but they were spot on when they said that “Judd seems to win a lot of tinpot events” and perhaps this explains why…
The narrative is that Ronnie only gets motivated for the “big” events, we get fed stuff about “elite fields”, “one table setups”, conveniently forgetting the pay cheques that come with such things. He has the talent to pick and choose, and backs himself to win a few, and it works (and good on him!). But I think it would be naive not to overlook that the money on offer isn’t a factor in his motivation somewhere… I assume that’s why he went to Barnsley to qualify for Wuhan, because a promoter will be paying him big bucks when he gets there, or there’ll magically be a lucrative exhibition the week before.
Judd probably knows that just like all the other players, he can’t just wake up and decide to win the UK/Masters that week like Ronnie can, so fair play to him for making a good living out of snooker in a cleverer way. Given he’s had eye trouble in the not too distant past, Judd probably knows more than many that the wheels might fall off at any time. I bet the others just wish they had thought of it first…
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I don’t disagree, but my line was not driven by his stance regarding the Betvictor series, rather by his suggestion that more events should go to Saudi Arabia including the World Championship BECAUSE of the potential money on offer. Saudi Arabia is only about sports-washing, they have no history, nor interest in snooker other than political. Moving the most iconic event of the snooker calendar to a country that could and would ditch it as soon if doesn’t fit their political agenda anymore would be irresponsible.
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Oh yes, on that point I completely agree.
Having said that, as much as I love what I do, if someone offered to add a few 000’s to my salary just for going to do it in the desert, I can’t hand-on-heart say I’d refuse…!
For what it’s worth, I don’t think the Saudi’s are going to overtake snooker. It’s one thing to target big sports like Golf, Boxing, buying up European football teams, hosting the World Cup, etc I assume they’ve got tennis in their sights soon. These are all multi-billion dollar sports with global interest and I can see why anyone hoping to do some “sportswashing” would look to get into those – aiming at predominantly overseas transient fanbases looking for ‘entertainment’ more than sporting contest.
Unless they know something we don’t about Chinese viewing figures, snooker is very small beer in comparison. It has a comparatively small but very loyal fanbase, most of whom admire and respect its traditions so the Saudi’s alleged interest in taking the World Championship doesn’t make any sense – it’s the exact opposite of sportswashing because it would be so deeply unpopular.
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It’s an interesting comment about Trump being more money-driven than most. I can see why that would be said, but I think the truth is more that he’s very naive, and especially blind to the notion that there’s more to life than money. To him, Saudi Arabia is good because money = glitz and glamour, and he can’t see beyond the superficial excitement of that. This is, after all, a man who *chooses* to holiday in Dubai.
Don’t think we should criticise a professional for being ‘money driven’.
If Judd reckons that he can pocket an extra £150k on top of the normal prize money by winning a few small-time events that his opponents don’t take overly seriously, and goes and does it, then good luck to him. I can’t remember who commented on here a couple of years ago but they were spot on when they said that “Judd seems to win a lot of tinpot events” and perhaps this explains why…
The narrative is that Ronnie only gets motivated for the “big” events, we get fed stuff about “elite fields”, “one table setups”, conveniently forgetting the pay cheques that come with such things. He has the talent to pick and choose, and backs himself to win a few, and it works (and good on him!). But I think it would be naive not to overlook that the money on offer isn’t a factor in his motivation somewhere… I assume that’s why he went to Barnsley to qualify for Wuhan, because a promoter will be paying him big bucks when he gets there, or there’ll magically be a lucrative exhibition the week before.
Judd probably knows that just like all the other players, he can’t just wake up and decide to win the UK/Masters that week like Ronnie can, so fair play to him for making a good living out of snooker in a cleverer way. Given he’s had eye trouble in the not too distant past, Judd probably knows more than many that the wheels might fall off at any time. I bet the others just wish they had thought of it first…
I don’t disagree, but my line was not driven by his stance regarding the Betvictor series, rather by his suggestion that more events should go to Saudi Arabia including the World Championship BECAUSE of the potential money on offer. Saudi Arabia is only about sports-washing, they have no history, nor interest in snooker other than political. Moving the most iconic event of the snooker calendar to a country that could and would ditch it as soon if doesn’t fit their political agenda anymore would be irresponsible.
Oh yes, on that point I completely agree.
Having said that, as much as I love what I do, if someone offered to add a few 000’s to my salary just for going to do it in the desert, I can’t hand-on-heart say I’d refuse…!
For what it’s worth, I don’t think the Saudi’s are going to overtake snooker. It’s one thing to target big sports like Golf, Boxing, buying up European football teams, hosting the World Cup, etc I assume they’ve got tennis in their sights soon. These are all multi-billion dollar sports with global interest and I can see why anyone hoping to do some “sportswashing” would look to get into those – aiming at predominantly overseas transient fanbases looking for ‘entertainment’ more than sporting contest.
Unless they know something we don’t about Chinese viewing figures, snooker is very small beer in comparison. It has a comparatively small but very loyal fanbase, most of whom admire and respect its traditions so the Saudi’s alleged interest in taking the World Championship doesn’t make any sense – it’s the exact opposite of sportswashing because it would be so deeply unpopular.