Wie erst heute bekannt wurde hat John Donnerstag Abend das Roddy McCorley Society in Belfast besucht.
Hier ein Bericht:
World champion in Roddies visit
John Higgins always cuts a very relaxed figure. Even as he seemed to fritter away the world championship title in May, throwing away a 10-2 lead to allow Mark Selby back in the match, he stayed cool and calm and of course finally prevailed to land his second world championship title.
He is no different as I meet him in the boardroom of the Roddy McCorley Society on Thursday evening.
Tie still in pocket, sitting back in a comfortable chair and drinking a cup of tea from the Roddies‘ finest china, it was hard to believe this man was why the downstairs bar was full and a queue of taxis were forming as they dropped fans at the front door.
Modest, humble and easy-going, it’s not difficult to see why Higgins is one of the most popular players on the world snooker scene.
He had spent the previous hour meeting and greeting residents at the Morning Star Hostel on Divis Street. He played a man celebrating his 65th birthday a frame of pool, signed a few cues and Celtic shirts, and quickly and easily lifted the mood of the residents.
It was a touching gesture from the Scot, one without fanfare or attention, and one that drew generous thanks from Roddies members and the residents of the Morning Star.
Once the tea was finished, I was introduced to Higgins by a member of the club. I had met him a couple of times before, and he claimed he remembered me. I doubt it, but it was nice for the ego to believe he did.
Since Higgins last visited the Roddies, just before the 2006 World Snooker championships, John has of course landed his second world title, his first since 1997. So, which triumph did he savour most?
“This one,” he said without hesitation.
“Don’t get me wrong, to win it for the first time was a great feeling but I think the second time, to realise you’re not a one-hit wonder, was a good feeling.”
When Higgins landed his first title in 1998, the feeling was the young Wizard of Wishaw could go on to land a few more as snooker moved out of the Hendry dominated era of the early 1990s.
But since ’97 there have been eight different winners, with Ken Doherty, Pete Ebdon, Shaun Murphy and Graeme Dott all landing solitary title wins. Until this year, Higgins included himself in this bracket of ‚one hit wonders‘.
“Nine yeas between the two Championships was far too long, as far as I’m concerned,” said Higgins.
“Things just happen, you can’t turn the clock back but I’m confident that it’s not finished yet, that there’s a few more to come.
“I’ve a new prospective on playing snooker now, I feel that bit more confident now that things are going to happen.”
But before things can start to happen in the 2007-2008 season, Higgins had a weekend of exhibition matches in Ireland to survive. Does he enjoy the exhibition circuit?
“I love them, it’s good coming over and playing with your mates,” he said, looking over his shoulder to his friend Ciaran McVeigh from Lurgan seated beside him.
“You want to play well for the public, and it’s good to have a laugh. The number you do depends obviously how well you’re doing in the snooker season. If you’re doing well people want to come out and see you.
“You love playing tournaments and trying to win tournaments, but aside from that it’s good to get out and meet people.
“I wouldn’t want to be doing it four or five nights a week, but it’s good to be doing something a bit different from time to time.”
World Champion
The 2007 World Snooker Championships got off to a slow start for Higgins, unconvincingly beating Michael Holt 10-4 before a match with Dubliner Fergal O’Brien.
It was during this match that Higgins first felt 2007 might be his year.
“I think it was the second session against Fergal O’Brien.
“After the first session I knew I was a little lucky to be in front of Fergal (Higgins led 5-3 at the first break) but in the second session I started feeling good in my game, and good in myself.
“I knew if I could keep up that standard I was in with a good chance. It’s the sort of tournament that if you feel you can click into gear it will suit you, because of the long sessions and the number of frames you have to play.”
Higgins accounted for pre-tournament favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan in the quarterfinals before a testing tie with fellow Glaswegian Steven Maguire.
He trailed by four frames, 14-10, overnight with Maguire only needing three more frames to reach the final.
„I practise a lot with Stephan (Maguire) so I know how good he is,” said Higgins.
“I was losing 14-10 overnight, which turned out to be a blessing. I could’ve won the final frame of the third session and made it 13-11, but I didn’t.
“That meant Steven was going into the final session at 14-10 and probably thinking he was eeksy peeksy. At 14-10 you can try to protect your lead too much, like the golf with Garcia last week.
“You can go into the final round not thinking about your own game, but trying not to lose. You put the pressure back on yourself.”
Pressure
The pressure was certainly on Higgins in the final, having led 10-4 he allowed opponent Mark Selby back into the match, and he reduced the gap to 14-13.
“It was the same thing for me on the final day, I went in trying to protect my lead and not concentrating on closing it out as quickly as possible,” said Higgins.
“I was 10-4 in front but then only 12-10 up going into the final session.
“I jumped in the car straight after that session and just burst out laughing.
“If someone had said to me I was 10-12 up going into the final session I would’ve taken it, every player would love to be in that position, but I had to laugh.”
There were plenty more laughs later as Higgins took to the floor in the Roddies snooker room.
Needless to say, he won every frame, but was run close by Joe Donaghy, Joe Reilly and Marty Ward.
He’ll be back in Belfast in November for the Northern Ireland trophy, and surely a few more visits to the Roddies further down the line.
After the snooker, John waited around to meet and greet fans and pose for photographs.
He thanked Sam Boyle and everyone at the Roddy McCorley Society for their generous hospitality.
The Wizard of Wishaw 