John Higgins guilty of 'bashing the balls about' in Ronnie O'Suillvan defeat

John Higgins admitted he was 'bashing the balls about' too much in his defeat against Ronnie O'Sullivan in the Tour Championship.

The wizard of Wishaw lost 10-8 in a thrilling match against his arch rival at the Celtic Manor Resort in Newport, Wales.

Higgins entered the mid-session interval trailing 7-5 but the pair shared the evening's frames with O'Sullivan registering a 1,100th career century with a break of 101 on his way to victory.

"I wasn't cueing great all game and it was magnified by the final shot on the yellow," Higgins said. "I bashed it rather than cuing through it like I've been doing lately.

"I just threw my cue at it and that was what I was like for most of the match - I was bashing the balls about.

"The conditions weren't great, It was quite muggy in there and tough to play in. Ronnie and I both missed a few shots. This was a massive tournament and I lost in the first round last year and I've done the same again."

Higgins beat O'Sullivan 10-3 to win the Players Championship trophy last month with a devastating performance but the 45 year-old couldn't replicate that form.

He said: "I wish I could have replicated what I did at the players - I played amazing. The game is hard and you'd love to play like that all the time but it's just not going to happen.

"I'm disappointed, Ronnie struggled as well and it must have been good to watch but it wasn't the best match play.

The pinnacle of the Snooker calendar arrives next month with the World Championship event at the famous Crucible Theatre.

Four-time world champion Higgins has lost in three of the last four finals at the tournament but he's looking ahead to the event.

Higgins said: "I've got to dust myself down because I've got the league then it's the Worlds so it'll be full steam ahead for that."

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