John Higgins revealed that his preparations for the 2026 Masters were hindered by travel woes, getting stuck in Amsterdam during the recent European weather delays.
Higgins had been playing at an exhibition in China but his journey back through Schiphol Airport took a turn when at least 800 flights were cancelled due to severe snow and wind.
The 50 year-old had to wait another couple of days before arriving back at his home, which could have translated to a negative impact for his arrival in London.
However, Higgins showed few signs of any lasting concerns as he produced a strong display to see off the challenge of Barry Hawkins with a 6-2 scoreline.
The reigning Tour Championship winner made a couple of mistakes in the first frame to allow his opponent to get on the scoreboard early.
Yet Higgins quickly settled and generally dominated the game thereafter, compiling breaks of 99, 71, 61, 58, 53, and 50.
“I was really delighted with the way I hit the ball tonight,” Higgins told Rob Walker for the World Snooker Tour.
“At the start, I was a little bit nervous and missed a couple. But I was delighted with some of the long pots that I was doing.”
“I was just trying to go through a little routine that I’ve been trying on and off, and I tried it again tonight.
“But I’m surprised that I played so well. It’s difficult putting practice in over Christmas, and I was out in China for a couple of days for exhibitions.
“I was stuck when I came back through Amsterdam when all the flights were off – I was stuck there for about two or three days.
“So it wasn’t the best preparation. But coming down here, I was enjoying it and I was enjoying being out there. That’s half the battle sometimes.
“I think I was always kind of an uptight player and always trying to get myself ready for matches, and it just doesn’t work like that any more.
“I’ve just got to come to events and be smiling more, be more relaxed, and I hope that can pay off for me.”
In the quarter-finals, Higgins will face reigning world champion Zhao Xintong in what promises to be a blockbuster battle at the Alexandra Palace.
The 6-2 scoreline, meanwhile, was bizarrely the sixth match in a row at the Masters this year which ended with a four-frame winning margin.
Earlier on day three, Kyren Wilson defeated Si Jiahui 6-2 while making runs of 105, 101, 80, and 59.
“In this era you have to play an attacking game, because grinding out frames takes too much out of you,” Wilson said.
“So I have wanted to speed it up and play in a natural way. I have been playing snooker since I was six so it has always frustrated me when people say I am not a natural player compared to others.
“It has been nice to put that to bed and play good flowing snooker, and there is no better place to do that than Ally Pally.”
Mark Allen, Xiao Guodong, and Wu Yize are the other players who have made it through to the quarter-finals.
There are two spots remaining in the last eight with the remaining first-round ties to be played on Wednesday – Judd Trump faces Ding Junhui and Neil Robertson is in action against Chris Wakelin.
Featured photo credit: WST
Remarkable run of 6-2’s the matches seem to be getting better even if the scoreline isn’t changing! Excellent win from Judd Trump today.
And of course, the last first round match ended… 6-2 !
Is there any precedent ?
Can’t imagine anything like it has happened before on such a scale.