John Higgins finds himself in the unaccustomed position of knowing exactly when his run in the current Grand Prix competition will end. The time a player spends at a tournament is usually determined by results but, win or lose against Terry Murphy in the last 16 of the £440,000 Grand Prix on Thursday, the Scot will be heading for home. In a shock announcement yesterday, the 1998 world champion declared his intention to withdraw from the event at the quarter-final stage to be best man at his brother Jason's wedding on Friday afternoon.
Higgins, the defending Grand Prix champion, is an angry young man and remains adamant that the game's governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, are to blame for the clash of dates. "I'm gutted to be doing this but I've given the Association eight months notice of my brother's impending wedding, insisted Higgins. I was given a promise and it was broken, so I am very upset. It's a tough decision but I'm certainly not going to miss my brother's big day," said Higgins, after including a hat-trick of century breaks during his 5-0 whitewash of Paul Sweeny in the second round yesterday.
Filed by Pat Nugent
