John Higgins Bribery Scandal

[Name Changed]

He would have been the last person I would ever expect to be involved in match/frame fixing.

 

[Raees]

I think later on it's a case of hand/eye coordination going but apparently the first things to go are desire and application making concentration and practice harder... I hink basically guys like Hendry don't give as much of a toss enough any more so can't beat the young guys enough to get through tournaments to the final or stay at the top of the rankings.

They asked Parrot and Davis this the other day.

Basically they put it down to two things. The first is concentration. They both felt as you get older it was harder to concentrate for longer periods, particularly over multi-session matches. They also said that the more relaxed you become around the table - which is natural given how long they've been in the game - the more likely you are to let the standards slip.

The second was mental tiredness and recovery times. They both agreed that a tough match now takes it out of them far more than it would have twenty years ago, and you're playing against young blokes who seem as fresh as a daisy. And that leads to making it more difficult to concentrate around the table.

Yep good summary. Also whilst this is directly linked to their inability to hold it together for a full match or even during a break, what is also apparent is that the older a player gets... his technique for long pots suffers ever so slightly taking us back to Baldwinlegends point about hand eye coordination.

Hendry and White for instance miss long pots they'd have eaten in their sleep whilst younger even when they're just about to come to the table relatively mentally fresh.. so I don't think its wholly to do with concentration and levels of practice.

 

[ERICSAGOD]

He would have been the last person I would ever expect to be involved in match/frame fixing.

I agree. Having watched the video of the meeting, I don't think this story about Russian Mafia rings true. He looks too laid back and relaxed about the whole thing.

 

[Member 39557]

Snooker needs a story like this to generate a bit of interest. I feel suspicious as Davis has done nothing of note for years.
I remember the days when Snooker was really popular and he was almost unbeatable so the sentimental part of me wants him to have a good run in the tournament.

Now I feel really suspicious!

 

[EdWeatherall]

Suspended 'til November and fined 75k apparently

Oh and that's guilty of bringing the game into disrepute or something like that, but not the match-fixing charges

 

[Stookie]

This is bullshit. If he was a player that wasn't snookers jewel in the crown, world No1 and seemingly good guy he would have been done. To find him guilty would have destroyed the sport. Was Quinten Hann banned for something similar?

 

[Wit Tanker]

This is bullshit. If he was a player that wasn't snookers jewel in the crown, world No1 and seemingly good guy he would have been done. To find him guilty would have destroyed the sport. Was Quinten Hann banned for something similar?

Agreed.
The video of him accepting bribery is pretty conclusive. I wonder how they would justify that crucial piece of evidence. The excuse will probably be that Higgins went along with it out of fear.

 

[Red Hand Devil]

Agreed.
The video of him accepting bribery is pretty conclusive. I wonder how they would justify that crucial piece of evidence. The excuse will probably be that Higgins went along with it out of fear.

Yeah he said originally, that he just wanted to get out of the room & would have done anything to achieve that!

Higgins is full of shit imo, his manager would have been involved in him being at the meeting & would have full knowledge what the meeting was about. He inturn would have informed Higgins & it would have been up to him to agree or disagree with said meeting. He agreed - nuff said!

 

[B Cantona]

I agree, seems like a farce

If he's innocent he'd have informed someone of what had happened immediately after he returned. He was outed, named and shamed after complete silence on his part. Must be some bloody good 'evidence' we're not yet privy to if he is innocent. If he is to regain his reputation we'll need to hear what it is

Mistake the paper made was not to hold onto the story until Higgins committed the sin on the baize

 

[Gio]

This is bullshit. If he was a player that wasn't snookers jewel in the crown, world No1 and seemingly good guy he would have been done. To find him guilty would have destroyed the sport. Was Quinten Hann banned for something similar?

Indeed. It's not much different from the various drug scandals involving high-profile stars in other sports which have been covered up to save the sport's image. Given the drive to promote snooker at the moment, it would have been an irrecoverable blow to convict the world's top player of match-fixing.