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John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Monique

http://www.sportingintelligence.com/201 ... hn-higgins’-snooker-comeback-to-be-influenced-by-family-matter-200905/?
John Higgins’ snooker comeback to be influenced by family matter
By Nick Harris
20 September 2010
The date of John Higgins’ return to competitive snooker will be dictated to some extent by the health of his father, John Snr, who is suffering from cancer and whose condition will occupy the Higgins family above all else for the immediate future.
In a bitter irony in the most traumatic period of Higgins’ professional life, the tribunal ruling 12 days ago that cleared him of any involvement in match-fixing coincided with Higgins Snr receiving news from his doctors that his condition had progressed beyond effective treatment.
Higgins, the world No1, is theoretically free to resume his career – after a six-month ban relating to discussing betting and failing to report an approach – on 1 November. And he might yet still play at Euro Players Tour championship events in Germany or the Czech Republic in November ahead of the UK Championship in December.
But with Higgins Snr having now been released from hospital to be with his family, Higgins is unlikely to be able to commit to any events in the immediate future with any certainty that he will be ready and able to play.
In an interview with the BBC over the weekend, when Higgins talked with emotion about the effect on his family of the accusations against him, he revealed he had not picked up a cue since May.
Higgins has made it clear that he wants to get back to action as soon as possible, but in a close-knit family that has already endured a torrid few months as a result of Higgins being caught up in a fixing sting, the condition of Higgins Snr will take priority for now.


That's very sad news. John and his family are really going through hard times.

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Roland

Having been through something similar myself albeit not cancer but equally debilitating, he has my sympathy and I wish him and his family well. When you know someone close to you is going to die, let's face it, it's tougher than anything else life can throw at you.

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Casey

This is terrible, John snr has always been talked about as a great character around the circuit, it would seem from reading this that he will spend his final time at home. My thoughts are with his family.

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Bourne

I echo the above. John should take as long as he needs out of the game to come to terms with this situation, it must be very hard. Thoughts with him.

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Witz78

His dad seems like a decent guy from what ive seen and they are a close knit family, so he has my sympathies here at this difficult time.

I wont allow it to cloud my thoughts on other matters though.

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby GJ

grow up witz why bother bringing the other unrelated stuff in to this sad news about johns dad

<doh>

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Tubberlad

Losing someone close to you is something that's incredibly tough, it's the worst thing life can throw at you. I wish John and his Dad the best, and will be thinking of them at this tought time, along with the rest of their family. Whatever has happened, I've always felt John is a top guy, and I'm sure he'll put his priorities right. Some things are infinitely more important than a game.

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Witz78

GJtheaussiestud wrote:grow up witz why bother bringing the other unrelated stuff in to this sad news about johns dad

<doh>


i didnt bring it into it, i simply added it as a footnote after my nice words just to clarify my position. Theres something id like to say on the matter but id get slated and probably banned from here so i will just button my lip.

Anyone wanting to know my thoughts PM me :john:

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Witz78

Sonny wrote:You can say whatever you think Witz but obviously certain topics demand certain sensitivity ;)


id happily say it, but some of the drama queens on here would make a mountain out of a molehill <doh>

political correctness and all that tosh :john:

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Wildey

Back on Subject

Very sad news. John's Priority should be his family and hope to God his father does get better but with his condition had progressed beyond effective treatment it looks like praying is all he has.

John snr had become as much a part of the circuit as John Himself.

lets pray he does get better and back by his son's side soon <ok>

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Roland

He's not going to get better wild judging by the article. When the doctors say you're beyond treatment and you're released to be with your family it can mean only thing.

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Wildey

Sonny wrote:He's not going to get better wild judging by the article. When the doctors say you're beyond treatment and you're released to be with your family it can mean only thing.

we can hope miracles do happen no use being negative in nothing <ok>

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Monique

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/se ... -interview?
John Higgins: 'It's the hardest thing – people doubting me'
The three-times world snooker champion talks about the tabloid sting, family turmoil and his plans for the future


Donald McRae
The Guardian, Tuesday 21 September 2010

John Higgins wants to win a fourth world snooker title after being cleared of agreeing to fix matches. Photograph: Murdo Macleod
I'm probably going to get a bit emotional here," John Higgins says on a quiet morning in Bothwell, a plush and pretty town on the fringes of Glasgow, where he is trying to rebuild his life after five shattering months. There is an autumnal chill in the air, and murky drizzle all around, as Higgins looks up.

His eyes are glazed when, almost on cue, church bells ring out from across the street and he starts to explain how he ended up at the centre of snooker's worst match-fixing scandal before, 12 days ago, he was finally cleared of the most serious charges.

"It's been a horrible time," Higgins says, his voice sounding thick and gravelly. The reasons are obvious. After the elation of being found innocent of corruption at the end of a two-day tribunal, and having his character exonerated in striking detail by the chairman of the disciplinary hearing, Ian Mill QC, Higgins' world collapsed around him again. The day after he was cleared he heard that his father's long battle against cancer had reached its final stage. John Higgins Sr has been released from hospital so that he can spend the time he has left at home.

"Sometimes, when you're lying in bed at night, and you can't sleep," Higgins says, "you ask yourself: 'Is this the reason why my dad is so ill?' He's been battling cancer for five years but he went downhill around the time this [scandal] started. He seemed to lose a little of his determination to fight on – and I don't know if my situation was the reason for that.

"I've been discussing it with my mum and the strange thing is that dad maybe feels it's his fault. He used to manage me and he tried to shield me, but the last five years he's not been able to travel to tournaments. But of course your dad can't shield you from everything and I'm 35 now."

In early May, on the morning of the World Championship final, the News of the World broke the story that it had video footage which apparently proved that Higgins, the defending champion, had agreed to throw frames at some future tournaments in eastern Europe. Higgins was ranked world No1 and at the centre of the promoter Barry Hearn's plans to revitalise a sport that had lost much of its popular appeal. Steve Davis, who had defeated Higgins so memorably 10 days before at the Crucible, described it as snooker's "darkest day".

It would be the first in the News of the World's string of exposes that have had such a profound impact on sport this summer. Higgins, trapped in a skillfully woven web of deceit and intrigue, reacted with hopeless naivety and crass stupidity when he was taken to Kiev by his now disgraced former manager, Pat Mooney.

"The game had been in trouble," Higgins says, "and we all felt we should try open it up to different countries. Snooker has just been a British-based sport for such a long time and when I started at 18 the furthest you'd go would be London. Lately, we've been playing more in the Far East – but we've also had invitations to play in Europe and going somewhere new like Russia or Ukraine is a bit daunting."

In Kiev, Mooney suggested his new business contacts were keen to sponsor four more tournaments. Yet just before they entered a meeting with these unknown men, Mooney told Higgins he might be asked to throw the occasional frame. Higgins has now been instructed by his lawyers not to discuss the specific machinations surrounding that infamous videotape – for the possibility of him taking legal action has not been discounted. But he conveys his own confusion.

"I was bewildered. I'm not the sort to start screaming and shouting but I couldn't believe he had said this so flippantly. Once we were inside a few more things were said that didn't add up. It was pretty intimidating and I thought let's get out of here as quickly as possible. That's all I was thinking."

Higgins was hardly thinking at all. He not only appeared to agree to the suggestions of the supposedly dangerous men in front of him but, more seriously, he failed to report their illegal approach to the snooker authorities when he returned to Britain. "I came back late on the Friday night," Higgins says, "and there was just time for me to help Denise [his wife] put the kids to bed. I was still getting my head around everything. Denise had to go to Glasgow early the next morning as her sister was getting fitted for her wedding dress. So I was running all over the place with the kids. At the same time Mooney had left messages for me but I didn't want to speak to him.

"He then left another message saying it was really important I called back. He said the News of the World had videotaped our meeting in Kiev. I just put the phone down. My whole world was in a spin. I had to go pick up Denise in Glasgow. When Denise and her mum got in the car she saw I was chalk-white. She said: 'What is it?' But I couldn't speak because the kids were in the back. When we got home the reporters were already waiting for us in the drive."

How did his wife react? "Denise faced the same emotions as me. She was mad, angry and hurting inside. And that night I had to phone my parents. They were devastated."

Higgins has also witnessed the impact on his children. "I sat down with my eldest boy, Pierce, because he's eight and, at school, kids can be cruel. We had to tell him people are saying bad things about daddy but they're not true. He said: 'Well, daddy, if they come here and say those things I'll punch them.' He's seen a lot of emotion in our house. Even the smaller kids, Oliver and Claudia, would be thinking why is daddy or mummy or granny upset? But my family has been really strong."

That strength seemed to be draining away 12 days ago, as Higgins waited for the outcome of the tribunal in London. "It really hit home five minutes before the verdict. I noticed how quiet everyone around me had become. I had to go to the toilet then because I thought the worst could happen. People have been to jail when they're innocent. I knew I would never miss a single ball on a snooker table on purpose and, until then, I was sure the evidence would support me. But that was a terrible moment. I came out of the toilet and they said: 'We're going in now.' I knew I was about to hear my fate."

Higgins was cleared unequivocally of agreeing to fix matches – but he was suspended for six months and fined £75,000 for failing to report an illegal approach and for bringing snooker into disrepute. In his ruling Ian Mill QC said Higgins was guilty only of making a poor choice of manager and for acting in an "extremely foolish" manner. But he praised Higgins's "truthful" account and his otherwise admirable character.

"It was important to me," Higgins says, "that someone who had looked so closely at the evidence, and the video, said such nice words about me. Ian Mill went a long way to helping me clear my name. It's the hardest thing I'm going to have to overcome in the future – people doubting me. When you can't sleep at night you click on certain blogs. A lot of nasty and untrue things have been said about me."

The opinion of his father matters most of all to him. His dad, after all, introduced Higgins to the game he loves. "A lot of the time he would be working offshore, out on the oil rigs. And when he was home he'd take me and my brother to this club in Wishaw. I was nine and my brother was 12 and I think the reason he put us on the snooker table was so that he could have a few quiet pints. It was one way of keeping us out of mischief."

What did he tell his father on that memorable Thursday he was exonerated? "I said: 'Dad, stop lying about in hospital and get yourself up. I'm playing again in November and I want you there.' I don't know if dad was crying or laughing because the cancer and the radiotherapy has affected his speech. You have to be up close to hear what he's saying. But he was delighted.

"I was on such a high myself that Thursday night. I woke up the next morning and said to Denise: 'I can't believe it's over.' But that's when I called my mum and she told me the news they had just got about dad. There was no point in him having more chemotherapy. She broke down on the phone – and nothing else seemed to matter."

Higgins has not picked up a snooker cue since the News of the World story erupted on 2 May. But yesterday he took a symbolic step forward when a couple of men arrived at his home in Bothwell to re-cover his snooker table with fresh baize. "You don't realise what you've got in life until it looks like it's going to be taken away from you. My wife keeps telling me things happen for a reason. Maybe she's right. Snooker players go into steady decline and lose their intensity after a while. But I will have real purpose the next five years. I want to prove people wrong and win a lot more tournaments."

Darkness draws in early on these autumn days in Bothwell and Higgins looks weary as we near the end. "These last five months will shape me for the rest of my life," he says. "It will make me a better person, and a stronger person. When my dad came out of hospital he didn't seem in a good place. But in the last day or two he's perked up.

"He has a bed downstairs now and he can walk over to the TV and sit in his normal place and take charge of the remote again. There's been snooker in Glasgow this weekend and he's watched it. He couldn't have done that if his boy had not been cleared. So that's given me a goal. I want people to believe in me again and I want to become world champion next May. I've won three world titles and I've dedicated them to my three children. I'd like to win a fourth – and dedicate it to my dad. Before he goes I'd like to win it for him."


I must say I've been among the doubters, but this I do believe.
Good luck for the future John. 8)

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby JohnFromLondonTown

I read that interview.

"When you can't sleep at night you click on certain blogs. A lot of nasty and untrue things have been said about me..."

He's getting a new cloth on his table, which is a good sign.

He wants to win a 4th WC for his Dad. Sounds like we're going to see that gritty determined face of his looking down a Snooker cue again. Great!

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Thompson Lykes

sorry to read about John's father.

John has a lot to get over - the biggest thing that while people might think he was let off on match fixing, they still think he is a complete village idiot putting himself in that position, then not reporting it, then not savaging Mooney for almost wrecking his life.

One other thing. If John is wondering around thinking people see him as a bit of a fool, he also has to be thinking that someone set up Mooney and ultimately him.

But then, all of snooker must be wondering about that as well

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby The Cueist

Thompson Lykes wrote:sorry to read about John's father.

John has a lot to get over - the biggest thing that while people might think he was let off on match fixing, they still think he is a complete village idiot putting himself in that position, then not reporting it, then not savaging Mooney for almost wrecking his life.

One other thing. If John is wondering around thinking people see him as a bit of a fool, he also has to be thinking that someone set up Mooney and ultimately him.

But then, all of snooker must be wondering about that as well


Well nobody has mentioned it yet,But wasnt the 2009 World Championship marred by allegations about Shaun Murphys sex life.

Shaun was duly embaressed and he then lost to John Higgins .

Murphy played terrible in that final.

And then 2010,This. :chin:

Let me think,I have a few conclusions to all this but i am not gonna say much,I think money is the root of all evil.

I will leave it at that. <ok>

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby The Cueist

Thompson Lykes wrote:Murphy made the headlines in his church newsletter, hardly sparking a global media feeding frenzy


If you want to make it look punitive ,Then so be it.

Murphy had to deal with it throughout a two day final of the World Championship.

You are being a wally and furthermore do you really look like your avatar in real life? :chin:

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Thompson Lykes

The Cueist wrote:
Thompson Lykes wrote:Murphy made the headlines in his church newsletter, hardly sparking a global media feeding frenzy


If you want to make it look punitive ,Then so be it.

Murphy had to deal with it throughout a two day final of the World Championship.

You are being a wally and furthermore do you really look like your avatar in real life? :chin:


Sorry, I didn't know Shaun Murphy had a sex life until your comments.

And yes, I do look like this. Is that a problem? Shaun Murphy lives with it

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby The Cueist

Well i couldnt care less if Murphy has one or not.

Point is this,The same sketch in 2009 World champs ,And obviously at the same point this year.

There is no mistake is there.

By the way i dont have a problem with you looking like that,As it kind of suits what you say and talk about. :wave:

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Casey

Thompson Lykes wrote:sorry to read about John's father.

John has a lot to get over - the biggest thing that while people might think he was let off on match fixing, they still think he is a complete village idiot putting himself in that position, then not reporting it, then not savaging Mooney for almost wrecking his life.

One other thing. If John is wondering around thinking people see him as a bit of a fool, he also has to be thinking that someone set up Mooney and ultimately him.

But then, all of snooker must be wondering about that as well


I would think the majority know who it was that made the tip off

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Thompson Lykes

Read it.

Outcome

1. Higgins was in Kiev
2. Higgins associated himself with someone who was willing to wreck his career to earn some money. No-one forced Higgins to take up with Mooney
3. While trying to come across all business-like as a co-promoter, Higgins didn't know the rules of his own association and didn't report the incident.
4. Within a few days Dott had ditched Mooney. Higgins has yet to condemn Mooney
5. Higgins was fined £75000 for being a naughty, stupid boy (back to point 3). So he was guilty of something before anyone attempts to bring the Pontiff back to make Higgins some kind of martyr or saint

Regardless what Mr Douglas says, Higgins' life and career was shot to pieces by the News of the World. That can only be corrected in one way. If Higgins is so upset, and there is due reason to believe News of the World were underhand, or over-the-top in what they did, there are two courts in the land he could take his case to.

The fact he hasn't for me shows there was a bit of plea bargaining going on behind the scenes before this tribunal was heard, the outcome being that Higgins is fined, receives the best part of suspended sentance, and told to shut up and forget it - until he publishes his book

Re: John Higgins' comeback might be delayed ...

Postby Casey

Thompson Lykes wrote:Read it.

Outcome

1. Higgins was in Kiev
2. Higgins associated himself with someone who was willing to wreck his career to earn some money. No-one forced Higgins to take up with Mooney
3. While trying to come across all business-like as a co-promoter, Higgins didn't know the rules of his own association and didn't report the incident.
4. Within a few days Dott had ditched Mooney. Higgins has yet to condemn Mooney
5. Higgins was fined £75000 for being a naughty, stupid boy (back to point 3). So he was guilty of something before anyone attempts to bring the Pontiff back to make Higgins some kind of martyr or saint

Regardless what Mr Douglas says, Higgins' life and career was shot to pieces by the News of the World. That can only be corrected in one way. If Higgins is so upset, and there is due reason to believe News of the World were underhand, or over-the-top in what they did, there are two courts in the land he could take his case to.

The fact he hasn't for me shows there was a bit of plea bargaining going on behind the scenes before this tribunal was heard, the outcome being that Higgins is fined, receives the best part of suspended sentance, and told to shut up and forget it - until he publishes his book


:chin:

Higgins said in his interview that things are in the hands with his lawyers as to suing the NOTW. It looks likely he will. You also forgot to mention that the QC seen the full video and was given telephone and email recordings as evidence. John did condem mooney in his BBC interview and his statement after the verdict was given "I trusted people who I though were acting in the best interests of the game"