John Higgins is not a fan of late evenings.
The Scottish snooker great has been forced to return late on back-to-back days at the International Championship, and certainly wasn’t happy about it.
Higgins instantly showed his frustration at the decision[/caption]
The four-time champion took down Haotian Lyu in the previous round to reach the quarter-finals, with their encounter going the distance and finishing 6-5.
But Higgins was already forced to take a lengthy break as their match overran, with organisers deciding to invite them back after the evening match.
Back the next day to face Chris Wakelin in the quarter-finals, Higgins called an early end to the tenth frame as he conceded to make it 5-5 by intentionally knocking the pink.
Sitting back down ready for a final frame showdown, he then learned that the session would also be ended and called back later, prompting a furious reaction.
The 49-year-old threw his arm up and appeared to say ‘f*** off’ before storming out.
Another match was scheduled in 35 minutes time, and with a frame taking up to 45 minutes, there was little time to get fans in and out for the following clash on the same table.
The match commentator responded to the outburst, saying: “Oh! Well Higgins has just been told that’s it and you saw his reaction.
“He wasn’t happy. Goodness me.
“I’ve got to assume that’s the end of proceedings and, for the second day running, Higgins will be coming back after the end of the evening session to finish this match off.
“You saw what the four-time world champion thought of that!”
Higgins wasn’t exactly in a rush[/caption]
Some might argue Higgins only had himself to blame, having earlier taken over two minutes just for a single shot in the eighth frame.
The Scot rifled through every single rest available to try and pot the black, repeatedly turning to the referee as he sought help in lining up his shot.
Eventually he settled on a spider rest and landed the tricky shot, drawing applause from those in attendance in Nanjing.
