John Higgins in brutal confession as snooker star reveals 'this sport takes your soul'
Scots snooker star John Higgins has admitted his first round Masters exit to Neil Robertson was tough to stomach.
The Wizard of Wishaw raced into a 5-1 lead against Australian star Robertson at Alexandra Palace earlier this month - before losing the next five straight frames, exiting the tournament at the first hurdle. And the defeat was made even more painful by the fact that Robertson had only earned a late minute call-up to the tournament following Ronnie O'Sullivan's shock decision to withdraw.
After losing in the second round of snooker's UK Championship following an epic with runaway world No.1 Judd Trump, the loss was a particularly tough one for the veteran to take - and he opened up on the toll of it after making it through a first round German Masters clash following a hard fought 5-3 win over world No.53 Mark Davis, Higgins told WST: "This is a sport that has given me so much over the years but it begins to take your soul bit by bit.
"This has been a good sport for me, but as you fall down the rankings it can begin to take that bit of goodness. It is a brutal sport sometimes. That was a good win. Mark has always been really tough and given me some tough battles. It is always a good game when I play him and that was another one." Higgins will take on Jak Jones on January 29 in the second round of the tournament, which he last won in 1997."
Robertson meanwhile spoke of his delight after being awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), the Australian equivalent of an MBE, following the Masters. He said: "A lot of people know who I am in Australia, but snooker is such a tough sport to break through with there because we are so good at so many sports. Most of them are outdoor sports, it is tough to compete with those, but this is massive recognition for what I've done and hopefully it will encourage me to do greater things."
