Starlight Issue 4: Higgins, greatness does not require perfection, right and wrong make a legend

According to legend, wizards are proficient in magic and mind-shifting. Our protagonist today, John Higgins, is like a wizard on a pool court. He moves accurately and has a stable rhythm, always making the ball appear in the right place accurately. People gradually attributed this “unscientific” performance to the “witchcraft” that he may have mastered some kind of “witchcraft” to control the position of the cue ball.

John Higgins (John Higgins), Scottish professional snooker player, internationally recognized master of modern snooker classic tactics, academic representative.

Welcome to Higgins in this issue of Starlight Series. Greatness does not require perfection. Right and wrong make a legend.

01

the beginning of the beginning

People who are more talented than you work harder than you

John Higgins was born in England in 1975. His father loves to play billiards. At the age of 9, he took up a cue for the first time under his father’s influence.

At the age of 11, he showed his talent and made the first shot in his life. He officially became a snooker player at the age of 17.

At the age of 19, he won the first ranking championship trophy in his career, and the audience was brilliant.

02

First time to the top

23-year-old World Championship champion

At the age of 23, Higgins reached the first peak of his career. In that year’s World Championship finals, he defeated the defending champion Ken Dahdi 18-12 and won the World Championships. This victory also brought him to No. 1 in the world rankings. The following year he managed to keep his place-winning the British Championship and winning the Masters, thus becoming the Triple Crown.

03

Dominate the snooker world

Opponent, forcing the best you

If “Billiard King” Hendry dominated the snooker world in the 1990s, then the early 2000s belonged to the era of Higgins, although fierce competition from other players (especially Williams and O’Sullivan) ) Made him lose first place after two seasons. But the early 2001/02 season was when Higgins broke the record because he became the first player to win the first three events of the season.

Speaking of opponents, I have to mention that in the 2005-06 season, Higgins performed a wonderful scene in the Greenpitch Grand Prix final in the Guild Hall of Preston. In this final with O’Sullivan, Higgins played 4 consecutive times over 100 in a single stroke, and got an incredible score of 494 in total, and a new record was born. “Standing there, I just know I won’t lose the ball,” Higgins said. Yes! Because you are a magical wizard on the court. O’Sullivan, who was still puzzled after the game, said: “This is really unimaginable. I have never seen anything like this happen.”

04

happy family

own safe haven

In 2000, with the warm sun shining on the calm Scottish town, Higgins entered the marriage temple with a woman named Dennis. Since then, he has his own happy family, and there is no aura of world champions. , Only the husband, wife, son and daughter, plain and happy.

05

The sluggish 07-08 season

He may have lost the skill pack

The Shanghai Masters was out early, the Greenpitch Grand Prix stopped in the top eight, the Wembley Masters rounded out, the Malta Open lost to old rival Dahdi, the Welsh Open and China Open twice fell to Selby Last, this season’s Higgins is really in a downturn. We can’t help but ask, is the “Witcher” magic skill pack borrowed by someone?

06

2009 World Championships

Another glorious moment in life

In the 2009 World Championships, Holt easily defeated Holt 10 to 5 in the first round, and Jamie Cope again in the second round. Higgins, who was forced to a desperate 10 to 12, “struck back” and stubbornly dragged the game into a decisive round. , The tense and choking game shocked the spectators in the stands twice, and the game was interrupted twice. After returning from the break, Higgins stabilized his mind and shot a very difficult red ball with a red ball, and then took another 80. Points to complete the shocking reversal.

In the third round, against last season’s bitter Selby, the latter still played steadily, 12 to 11, the first to win the match point, at this time, Higgins once again showed the “wizard” true character, 113 to 4, the game entered the decisive game again. , The tense atmosphere of the deciding game is still suffocating. After two re-starts, Higgins started with a high-quality kick-off. After Selby made a mistake in saving the ball, Higgins finished the game with 75 points. , Once again turned the tide, passed the thrilling pass.

Compared with the first two rounds, the semi-finals and finals seem a bit monotonous. The brave Higgins did not leave any chance for his opponents, and successively picked Mark Allen and Murphy, the third World Championship champion in his career. With the trophy in the bag, the stars once again shined in Cruzeiro, and under the spotlight, the Higgins family enjoyed this glorious and great moment.

07

gambling storm

an unacceptable scandal

We opened up Higgins’s label before 2010, and we found that he was really too perfect, top snooker players, “wizards”, good men, good husbands, good fathers and so on. One day this perfect “personal design” suddenly collapsed in front of the world. They participated in gambling and accepted bribes. The scandal of the elegant gentleman’s snooker sport was indeed unacceptable. So some people cursed and some people. Critical, some people choose to forgive. Because I love him too much, so forgive me for being selfish and not judging the right or wrong of the incident. At that time, I was just thinking whether the “wizard” who made his opponents fearful would sink completely from this wrong choice and the dark years. I’m afraid I’ll never see it again, right?

08

The “Higgins Era” has completely returned

The warrior who returned from the darkness

The gambling turmoil and the six-month suspension did not crush him. The ban was lifted in the middle of the 2010/11 season. Higgins used a terrifying 18 wins and 1 loss record and won the British Championships and the World Championships in one fell swoop. The champion of the competition proudly announced to the world that the previous “Higgins era” had completely returned. He was not defeated, and what followed was another peak of his career. Soldiers returning from the darkness may be more worthy of our admiration.

09

Signing Star

Start the Chinese Year of Higgins

In 2013, Higgins, who had gone through ups and downs, signed a star for a total of three years. That was the three years that Higgins needed the company most, and it was also the three years that Higgins went deep into China and the three years that Higgins came close to us. Xingpai walked with him, his family walked with him, and fans walked with him. The wizard who once stood high on the screen appeared in front of us at close range. A series of fan meeting activities continued to accumulate popularity. It was also during this period that Higgins won the Welsh Open and the Australian Open. The legend of Higgins continues.

10

The legend continues

defending the last glory of the 75 three masters

The time comes to 2017. The “scepter” of victory in Snooker “Jianghu” has long been unknowingly inherited by new generation players such as Selby, Ding Junhui, Trump, and Wilson, yes! The once dominating 75 Sanjie has already passed the years. O’Sullivan’s participation rate has been declining year by year. The man who is known as the most accurate man in the world, Williams, will also add a “old” as a prefix. Suddenly looking back, he found that the fat middle-aged uncle Higgins can still compete with the youngsters. This legendary superstar no longer needs to prove anything to the world. He still appears in major competitions. It stems from his love of billiards. We no longer expect him to be the number one in the world. We are lucky enough to see him still on the court!