John Higgins: Young Chinese snooker players are very lucky

John Higgins takes a shot during his match against India at the 2017 Little Swan Snooker World Cup in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, on July 7. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In an exclusive interview at the 2017 Snooker World Cup, John Higgins said he was enjoying the challenge of playing in a team event but showed concern over the future of snooker in the UK.

China's young snooker players have a lot of advantages over their British rivals these days, said four-time world champion John Higgins at the 2017 Little Swan World Cup in Wuxi, Jiangsu province on July 4.

China has produced an impressive crop of talented young cue masters in recent years, particularly since the Chinese government helped to set up the WPBSA Open Academy in Beijing 2013.

Higgins believes that this support is giving young talents in China a better chance to develop than their counterparts in the UK.

"The Chinese government backs the young players whereas the UK government doesn't give any help to the young players. So the young players in China are very lucky," said the world number two.

Higgins has first-hand experience of the rapid progress many of these Chinese players are making. Two years ago, his Scotland team suffered a shock defeat in the final of the 2015 World Cup to a pair of then-virtually unknown Chinese youngsters called Zhou Yuelong and Yan Bingtao.

The teenagers are back to defend their title in Wuxi this year, and Higgins believes that they have the potential to become future stars of the sport.

When asked what Zhou and Yan need to do to become world champions like himself, the 42-year-old has a very simple piece of advice.

"Just keep on working, keep on practicing, because all the young Chinese players practice very hard, they have a good work ethic," he says.

"And maybe the UK youngsters don't practice as much as the Chinese youngsters, because they are always very dedicated. So that maybe a reason why the Chinese youngsters are better than the UK youngsters."

The Wizard of Wishaw will not have an opportunity for a rematch with Zhou and Yan at this year's World Cup, as his Scotland side was eliminated at the group stages.

But he says that he is happy to have had the opportunity to return to Wuxi.

"It's a nice city with nice food, nice fans, nice people," he smiles.

Edited by Dominic Morgan

John Higgins shares his ideas on why there is a big difference between young snooker players in China and the UK during an exclusive interview in Wuxi on July 4. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]