December 16, 2023 FrankReport
The 2023 Scottish Open is about to be contested in two semi-finals, with homegrown veteran Higgins beating Tom 5-3 in the 1/4 final. Forde will face Thailand's Sankham in the semi-finals, and the 48-year-old is just two wins away from winning the title at home, and the Scottish Open semi-finals are also Higgins' third semi-final of the season (the first two: the European Masters, the English Open), and for the ambitious Higgins, if he can successfully reach the final and win the title, it will undoubtedly be his biggest breakthrough in the past two seasons.
The constraints of performance brought about by age will always make the 48-year-old Higgins show fatigue in the game today: he can still play effectively in the previous game, and he may also make mistakes in the next game and be unable to do so, this is the competitive dilemma and helpless reality that Higgins is currently facing, in the past two seasons, Higgins's so far one championship is still won in the "Champions League" in the 2021 2022 season (invitational tournament), and he is the same as the "92 class" (also known as the 75 Sanjie) member: Mark. Williams and O'Sullivan both continued to be successful that season, Mark. Williams won the British Open championship in early October, and O'Sullivan was "crowned" the British Championship for the eighth time in early December.
Pictured: Higgins, Mark. Williams and O'Sullivan are known as "92 Session" or "75 Three Heroes", not only because the above three 75-year-old players happened to turn professional in 92, but also because the above three players have a "brilliant achievement in the past and the present".
With O'Sullivan, Mark. It's really hard for Williams to be compared together as a "classmate", beating Tom in the 1/4 finals. After Forde, Higgins told Eurosport: "But the competition and comparison between classmates may also motivate you, but the reality is that you feel more and more unable to compare with the two of them, especially with O'Sullivan, in your current grades."
I seem to be more and more powerless the older I get, but O'Sullivan can still continue to win major championships, so, don't generalize the results between me and O'Sullivan with the title of the so-called 75 Sanjie, to be honest, even I am in the "O'Sullivan's ** gram era", Higgins laughed at himself in a way that teased himself.
If there is no comparison, there is no gap", Higgins further said: "If there is no O'Sullivan's achievements as a comparison in the subconscious, I myself will think: with my current age, I may not perform badly, and once I compare O'Sullivan's results, I am under great pressure that I should not have, so when I don't play well, even some fans will accuse me: "How can Higgins play such a ball".
Picture: As of the quarterfinals of the 2023 Shanghai Masters, Higgins and O'Sullivan have played a whopping 78 games, which can be called the athlete with the most encounters in modern sports history.
Thus, in defeating Tom. After Forde, Higgins clearly has the determination to change his current sluggish results and sluggish competitive mentality: "Beating Forde is already a big win for me, Forde's strength is not what it used to be, and I use this victory as a benchmark for what I am still working on, so I have more courage and confidence."
The semi-finals between Higgins and Sancam will be played at 03:00 on the 17th, and the four-time world champion Higgins currently has 31 ranking tournament titles, thus second only to Stephen Hendry (36) and O'Sullivan (40) in the number of ranking tournament titles.