John Higgins on facing ‘standard-bearer, underachiever and good guy’ Barry Hawkins
'He's one of the standard-bearers in the game of the last 10-15 years.'
John Higgins sees his Tour Championship semi-final opponent Barry Hawkins as a standard-bearer for snooker for a number of years, but has underachieved due to his immense quality.
The Hawk has been in brilliant form this week in Manchester, hammering Shaun Murphy 10-1 in the first round and then downing world number one Judd Trump 10-5 in the quarter-finals.
Higgins looked good too in his only game so far, beating Xiao Guodong 10-3 on Thursday afternoon with four centuries along the way.
The Scot has rediscovered some of his best form since winning the World Open in Yushan in early March and the semi-final clash with the Hawk looks like it should be a fantastic contest.
Higgins is full of respect for Hawkins, both on and off the table, and both on and off the dancefloor.
‘I’ve watched a bit and a couple of the boys are saying it, he’s so robotic,’ Higgins said of Hawkins’ campaign in Manchester so far.
‘He just plays the same way, just pots, makes everything look easy, just doesn’t seem to have a hard shot because his positional play is so good.
‘Great player Baz, get on well with him. He’s one of the good guys.
‘We had a good night in Hong Kong, I don’t drink now but I think he drank for double of me. The wives were there, we had a great night, up dancing, band playing.’
The Scot feels the Englishman has finally built up the belief in his game that his talent deserves and thinks Hawkins now does see himself as a potential winner of the biggest prizes in snooker.
‘It’s good to see somebody like Barry because the earlier part of his career I don’t know if it was whether he got the recognition or respect or maybe it was his own self belief, but it’s good to see him now, he certainly does believe that he can win these big events,’ said Higgins.
‘He puts his heart and soul into the game, he’s always been there, he’s one of the standard-bearers in the game of the last 10-15 years.’
It is this respect for Hawkins’ talent that leaves Higgins feeling that the Hawk should have more than his four ranking titles on his CV.
‘Of course he’s underachieved, he’d tell you that, I’m sure. But he’s still going strong,’ he said.
‘We keep on saying it, but that’s the standard, that’s the standard.’
Higgins knows just how difficult Hawkins is to beat as both meetings so far this season have gone the way of the Hawk.
In all competitions over their careers, the pair have met 22 times and currently stand on 11 wins each.
On his wins in Manchester so far, Hawkins told ITV4: ‘It’s going alright innit? Against Shaun I had a flyer first session, played pretty solid against Judd.
‘I’m looking forward to it [the semi-final]. If I keep playing alright then it’s always enjoyable.
‘This game can change overnight you can play really well then the next day you can’t pot a ball. But I feel good in myself, I’m quietly confident I suppose. I’ve beat two top class players there.’
Higgins has followed his World Open win with a quarter-final run at the World Grand Prix, semis at the Players Championship and now another semi-final berth at the Tour Championship.
‘It has given me back the belief in my game and my fighting qualities, that I can still do it at this level, that has been the most important thing,’ he said of returning to the winners’ circle at the World Open. ‘Big players are winning multiple events, that’s what I need to try to do. I still want to compete with them.’
Hawkins and Higgins meet over two sessions on Friday, with the second semi-final seeing either Ding Junhui or Kyren Wilson taking on Neil Robertson or Mark Selby on Saturday.
