JOHN HIGGINS has blasted Riyadh Season Snooker Championship organisers after he was forced to get changed in a “TOILET”.
The glitz and glamour of the Kingdom competition, with its highly sought-after million-dollar Golden Ball, have created headlines worldwide.
But according to Higgins, the backstage facilities at the players’ disposal are less than stellar, so much so that there wasn’t even a changing room for competitors to use.
He told Sporting Life: “I was staying an hour away and I went over with my clothes to get ready and I’m asking the tournament director, ‘Have you any dressing rooms.’
“He said you can change in a toilet there or you can change behind the stairs with a black curtain.
“It’s not good enough. I don’t know who is there actually fighting for the players to say, no that’s not good enough.
“There has to be dressing rooms, there has to be more space for the players.
“We realise it is an incredible event with a lot of money, but the backstage facilities for the players to get themselves ready and get themselves up for the event were so below par it was unbelievable. It was poor.”
Higgins is no stranger to being critical of the tournament having recently lambasted organisers for having the table “too high”.
The World Snooker Tour dismissed Higgins’ blast by insisting the table was “regulation height”, an explanation the 50-year-old wasn’t pleased with.
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List of all-time Snooker World Champions
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The record is for the modern era, widely considered as dating from the 1968-69 season, when the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) took control of the sport.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 – John Spencer
- 1970 – Ray Reardon
- 1971 – John Spencer
- 1972 – Alex Higgins
- 1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 – John Spencer (2)
- 1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 – Terry Griffiths
- 1980 – Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 – Steve Davis
- 1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 – Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 – Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 – Dennis Taylor
- 1986 – Joe Johnson
- 1987 – Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 – Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 – Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 – Stephen Hendry
- 1991 – John Parrott
- 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 – Ken Doherty
- 1998 – John Higgins
- 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 – Mark Williams
- 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 2002 – Peter Ebdon
- 2003 – Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
- 2005 – Shaun Murphy
- 2006 – Graeme Dott
- 2007 – John Higgins (2)
- 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
- 2009 – John Higgins (3)
- 2010 – Neil Robertson
- 2011 – John Higgins (4)
- 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
- 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
- 2014 – Mark Selby
- 2015 – Stuart Bingham
- 2016 – Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 – Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 – Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 – Judd Trump
- 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
- 2021 – Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
- 2023 – Luca Brecel
- 2024 – Kyren Wilson
- 2025 – Zhao Xintong
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 – Alex Higgins
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When asked if he accepted the explanation, he replied: “No, because apparently there’s a threshold of three inches.
“I didn’t know there was that threshold, but they told me there’s a threshold, the table has got to be within three inches.
“It’s the first I’ve heard, after playing the game for so many years.
“It’s like tennis players trying to play and sometimes the net has risen by an extra three inches.
“They would know the difference when they’re trying to play certain shots and snooker players just know right away what it’s like when you’re out there.
“The practice table was like playing on the Titanic.
“It was incredible how out of sync the measurements were on the practice table as well, which was worse than the main table.”
Higgins did, however, praise tournament organisers for their “absolutely fantastic” set-up.
