John Higgins responds to Ronnie O’Sullivan over ‘aggressive’ criticism
John Higgins says he is a ‘percentage player’ after Ronnie O’Sullivan said he was not ‘aggressive’ enough at the table (VCG via Getty) John Higgins admits he is ‘not built that way’ after Ronnie O’Sullivan suggested the he would have won more titles with an ‘aggressive’ playing style. In the build up to this year’s World Snooker Championship, O’Sullivan hailed Higgins as ‘the best all-round player’ in snooker history. However, O’Sullivan believes Higgins would have won more than one World Snooker Championship if the Scot was more gung-ho at the table. ‘John was probably the best all-round player that’s ever played the game, yeah, without a doubt,’ O’Sullivan said. ‘Technically unbelievable, break-building fantastic, safety… probably been no one better, bottle – tonnes of it. ‘My only thing, if you’re going to criticise someone, I just think he wasn’t aggressive enough. I think he would’ve won a lot more if he had just been more aggressive. Ronnie O’Sullivan hailed John Higgins as ‘the best all-round snooker player’ in history (Getty) ‘But I don’t think John is built like that, I think his mindset is, ‘I just want to shut up shop’, and he can keep you out for hours and hours. ‘But sometimes I think with that ability and that talent it’s okay to give chances away when you’re that good because the opponent is just going to crumble anyway and leave you in.’ However, Higgins believes seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry is the only Scot with an aggressive playing style in recent history. Asked about O’Sullivan’s assessment on his career, Higgins told TNT Sports: ‘Possibly, possibly… but it’s tough out there, as you say. ‘I think us Scots are built different. I think Stephen [Hendry] is the only one out of us Scots who just flew at everything. ‘Normally we are just percentage guys, me, Alan [McManus], Stephen Maguire, we’re percentage players the way we grew up. ‘I’ve just never changed that way, I would love to get out and fly at balls the same way Judd and Ronnie do because it’s amazing to watch but I’m just not built that way.’ When asked why he feel he has not won more after his World Snooker Championship in 1998, Higgins joked: ‘It’s probably because I was going to watch Celtic-Rangers all the time and I wasn’t really practicing that much, I was having a good time.’ For more stories like this, check our sport page. Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
John Higgins admits he is ‘not built that way’ after Ronnie O’Sullivan suggested the he would have won more titles with an ‘aggressive’ playing style.
In the build up to this year’s World Snooker Championship, O’Sullivan hailed Higgins as ‘the best all-round player’ in snooker history.
However, O’Sullivan believes Higgins would have won more than one World Snooker Championship if the Scot was more gung-ho at the table.
‘John was probably the best all-round player that’s ever played the game, yeah, without a doubt,’ O’Sullivan said.
‘Technically unbelievable, break-building fantastic, safety… probably been no one better, bottle – tonnes of it.
‘My only thing, if you’re going to criticise someone, I just think he wasn’t aggressive enough. I think he would’ve won a lot more if he had just been more aggressive.
‘But I don’t think John is built like that, I think his mindset is, ‘I just want to shut up shop’, and he can keep you out for hours and hours.
‘But sometimes I think with that ability and that talent it’s okay to give chances away when you’re that good because the opponent is just going to crumble anyway and leave you in.’
However, Higgins believes seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry is the only Scot with an aggressive playing style in recent history.
Asked about O’Sullivan’s assessment on his career, Higgins told TNT Sports: ‘Possibly, possibly… but it’s tough out there, as you say.
‘I think us Scots are built different. I think Stephen [Hendry] is the only one out of us Scots who just flew at everything.
‘Normally we are just percentage guys, me, Alan [McManus], Stephen Maguire, we’re percentage players the way we grew up.
‘I’ve just never changed that way, I would love to get out and fly at balls the same way Judd and Ronnie do because it’s amazing to watch but I’m just not built that way.’
When asked why he feel he has not won more after his World Snooker Championship in 1998, Higgins joked: ‘It’s probably because I was going to watch Celtic-Rangers all the time and I wasn’t really practicing that much, I was having a good time.’
For more stories like this, check our sport page.
Follow Metro Sport for the latest news on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
