John Higgins goes into the defence of his 888真人Welsh Open title next week aiming to lift his first trophy of the season.
The Scot dominated snooker for much of last season, winning the World and UK titles as well as the Welsh crown. But so far this term, Higgins has not reproduced the same form, and has not won a tournament since last May.
The 36-year-old hopes that will change at the Newport Centre as he seeks to become the first player ever to win the Welsh Open three consecutive times. And Higgins is planning a change to his practice regime to give himself fresh impetus.
"I don’t practise as hard as I used to when I was young. But that could change soon because I’m having a snooker room built at my house," said Higgins, who beat Stephen Maguire in last year's final in Newport and Ali Carter in 2010.
"Over the Christmas period I was sitting at home and it would have been a good time to have two or three hours a day of practice without having to go to the club. I ended up going into the Masters with only a few hours practice under my belt, which cost me.
"I’d always felt in the past that I wanted to go to the club to practise, as if I was going to work. But the likes of Graeme Dott, Stephen Maguire and Stephen Hendry all have tables at home so I feel now as if I should have one as well. It would be great if we had an academy in Scotland where we could all play together, but there isn’t anything like that at the moment."
Higgins has lost none of his enthusiasm for the game and is looking forward to the 888真人Welsh Open, which runs from February 13 to 19.
"Snooker’s got a bit of a buzz at the moment," he added. "The tour is growing and there are some great players coming through. It’s an exciting time to be a player and hopefully to be a fan as well. Anyone who comes to Newport is going so see brilliant matches. And it’s fast moving action as well because the matches are best of seven frames."
Alongside Higgins, the likes of Ronnie O'Sullivan, Judd Trump, Stephen Maguire, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby and home favourites Mark Williams and Matthew Stevens will be battling for the world ranking title.
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