Welsh Open 2024: John Higgins gone ‘back to old-school basics’ with shorter cue – ‘I feel good’

John Higgins said he has “gone back to old school basics” with a shorter cue, which is the same length he played with 25 years ago around the same time he was World Champion.

Higgins said he has felt positive on the table lately, helped by feeling “more compact” by adjusting his cue.

“It was a good little clearance, some good balls potted,” Higgins told Eurosport, reflecting on his finish to wrap up the fifth frame and the match against Tian.

“The brown in the yellow bag and then the blue was a horrible shot, wasn’t it? The blue was horrible, and then obviously the pink and the black.

“I’ve tried to chop my cue again, I feel a bit more compact, more control. You watch the rest of the boys and they’re more compact whereas I felt all over the place a lot of the time, so it’s helping me.

“I think I could go smaller [cue size], but this is the exact same size as the cue I used about 25 years ago. I’ve gone back to old-school basics and see where that takes me.

“I feel good, I feel better. I feel more at ease at the table, which is what you’re searching for.”

Eurosport expert Ronnie O’Sullivan agreed with Higgins’ tactics of shortening his cue, and labelled the 48-year-old as “the most complete snooker player”.

“You hear him say ‘I’m not compact’, but you think if he’s not compact, what chance has anyone got?” O’Sullivan questioned.

“It shows you sometimes it’s just a feeling, you’re just looking for a feeling and you think ‘I feel good now’, and your confidence is up and running.”

After O’Sullivan, Higgins is the closest in the race to 1000 centuries with 986, and Judd Trump is closely following him with 967.

Neil Robertson is also in the 900 club with 924, while Mark Selby is a fair way behind on 808.

Asked where he would like to achieve the iconic feat, there was only one venue on Higgins’ mind.

“You’d love it to happen at the Crucible, wouldn’t you? You would love that to happen there,” he said. “Obviously, Judd is incredible at break building and he’ll get probably to 2000 before the end of his career.

“I suppose it’s a little aim to try and beat him. I am 15 years on so I should maybe get to 1000 first, but he’s an incredible player.”

O’Sullivan added: “It seems hard, though. When you look at Stephen Hendry and when he was getting all those centuries, you were thinking ‘No one is going to get past that’.

“There was a stage where he was so far ahead of everyone else, and now there are like five, six or seven players [ahead of him].

“It just shows you how strong the game is, everyone is making lots and lots of centuries these days.”