John Higgins highlighted current snooker rivalries and previewed his upcoming match with Mark Williams in the Tour Championship first round on Tuesday. According to Daily Express - Sport, Higgins described the matchup as playing his 'old nemesis' and noted that modern stars like Judd Trump and Kyren Wilson maintain a distance similar to his past with Williams. Higgins and Williams have a long-standing rivalry, having met 67 times since 1990, with their 68th encounter set for Tuesday.
Higgins holds four World Snooker Championship titles compared to Williams' three, underscoring their competitive legacies. Tensions in their relationship have been partly attributed to Higgins leaving Ian Doyle's management team around 1994 while Williams remained under that banner, as Higgins described to Daily Express - Sport. Their recent competitive history includes Williams defeating Higgins 13-12 in the quarter-finals of last year's World Championship.
It remains unclear whether Trump and Wilson have publicly acknowledged their rivalry as Higgins described, and the current status of Higgins and Williams' relationship beyond professional competition is not confirmed. The specific reasons for the perceived distance between Trump and Wilson are also unknown.