English Open 2023: John Higgins ‘hit by a truck’ by Judd Trump comeback in semi-final encounter

John Higgins said he felt like he was “hit by a truck” after Judd Trump took the final three frames to win their English Open semi-final.

Higgins produced superior snooker for large swathes of the match, and led 5-2 in the race to six.

It is the latest agonising defeat from a winning position for Higgins, and extends his run without a title in ranking events to 31 months.

“I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck,” Higgins told Eurosport. “At the end, he was just smashing them in.

“You think of the couple of chances at 5-2, I was clearing up and not played a great positional shot on the yellow. Then the long yellow I have totally cut across it.

“From there I did not get a sniff, he was flying.”

Higgins had words of praise for Trump, as he added: “There have been times before when I’ve missed a few balls, but you can only take your hat off to great, great champions – they can do that to you.

“The manner in which he did it, he was smashing them in off the lampshades. You just sit there and admire it. Judd blitzed me at the end, it was fabulous.”

Higgins will now regroup and head to China for the Wuhan Open, and is ready to go to the well again.

“If I keep putting myself in these positions, I can try and win one sooner rather than later but I’m just sick right now,” Higgins said.

Jimmy White admitted the loss at the Brentwood Centre would be a tough one for Higgins, but said there positives.

“That will hurt,” White said on Eurosport. “There were two frames he threw away, but John Higgins is back playing well again and he just came up against Judd Trump who was playing magic.”

Trump echoed White’s sentiments for his beaten opponent.

“They are horrendous to take,” Trump said. “It makes it easier as he didn’t twitch up and miss something easy, it was his opponent playing unbelievably well.

“It is tough. I have had a lot of these losses in my career. But he looks so good, somewhere near back to his best.”