John Higgins insisted that this was the golden age of the snooker movement.
Text/Hector Nunns
When Higgins, now ranked sixth in the world, entered the Tour in early 1992, Steve Davis was still the backbone of the sport, but Stephen Hendry had become the absolute king of the sport.
In the 1980s, with the popularity of color television, the popularity of the snooker movement reached its peak. At that time, there were only three television stations in Britain, but many snooker players became famous.
But what is known as the most famous match in history, Dennis Taylor's 1985 World Championship final against Davis in Crucible, did not show a single shot. It wasn't until the late 1990s that Hender used his offensive style to revolutionize snooker's playing style, greatly improving the quality of snooker's games.
Higgins and his colleagues Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams of the "Class of '92" also gradually began to play their part, pushing each other not only but Hendry to new heights through constant confrontation. This season we have not only seen the veterans play at a high level, but at the same time, in the midst of the crowd, each of them has won a title.
Judd Trump, Mark Selby and Neil Robertson remain the tested winners, while China's youngsters Zhao Xintong and Yan Bingtao are constantly breaking new ground and stirring up the world on the tour.
Higgins said: "There is no doubt that in terms of the standards of competition, this is the era of the highest level of competition. You can look at the quality of the game now and see that there are so many top players, and this is the most difficult time snooker game has ever competed. ”
"So with the standards and depth of the game now, the process of success has been extremely difficult. Just look at which players your opponents were in the early rounds of the game. ”
"If other people feel like it's not what I said, they're either lying or they don't know what they're talking about. But in any case, that's how I think about the Tour today. ”
Robertson, who has just won the Players' Championship, fully agrees with Higgins on this issue. Robertson said: "I think it is true. ”
"If you look further down at the rankings, there are also some players out there who are perfectly capable of beating the top players. I remember I was in the top 16 from 2000 to mid-2010, when it was much easier to reach the round of 16 and the quarterfinals. ”
"Now, on the other hand, even the first round is difficult to win. Your opponent may be a newly rising Chinese player, and more and more people who can challenge you are still emerging. You may meet the experienced ''92', or it may be me, Selby or Trump. ”
Then there are super winning players like Barry Hawkins and Stewart Bingham, as well as Karen Wilson and Jack Lissovsky, and new generation young champions like Yan Bingtao and Zhao Xintong. It all means that every game you win should be cherished and enjoyed. ”
Higgins also believes that if O'Sullivan can return to the world number one position for the fifth time at the age of 46, it will be one of the greatest achievements of O'Sullivan.
O'Sullivan is currently ranked second in the world, and if he has a good performance at the World Championships or Selby and Trump still perform poorly, it is entirely possible to achieve the world number one throne.
Higgins added: "If Ronnie can get back to number one now, it would be a big deal, like anyone in our time – but he's definitely the one who's definitely the closest and most likely now." Yes, probably aside from the World Championships, he's the most successful player of all competitions of all time. ”
"Look at the hot-handed Selby and Trump in recent years, but if O'Sullivan can return to the world number one, it's really a brilliant achievement."