Why a 'broken promise' caused John Higgins to walk out of a big TV snooker event

Down the years on the professional circuit there have been instances of players unexpectedly pulling out during tournaments, mainly down to illness, but Higgins’ withdrawal was planned, and for something very specific.

The world number two at the time, Higgins was the reigning Grand Prix champion at the Telford International Centre. The previous year at the Guild Hall in Preston, Higgins recovered from 6-2 down to oust Mark Williams 9-8 in the final and lift the trophy.

At the time, the Grand Prix - which was covered live by BBC television - was one of the biggest events in the sport.

Number one seed Higgins began his title defence at the world ranking event in very impressive fashion, making three century breaks and further efforts of 56 and 88 in a 5-0 opening win over Paul Sweeney, outscoring his opponent by 521 points to 47.

In the last 16, the Scotsman came back from 3-1 down, rounding off a 5-3 victory over Terry Murphy with a run of 102.

Coincidentally, Murphy received a walkover in the previous round as opponent Anthony Hamilton was recovering from a broken wrist he suffered a few weeks before when attempting to stop his friend from being mugged.

Family first: Best man duties for Higgins

Higgins was through to the last eight, but his participation in Telford ended immediately after his win over Murphy, as he made his way back to Scotland to be best man for his brother’s wedding which was taking place on the same day as the quarter-finals.

Planning ahead, eight months earlier Higgins said he spoke to the sport’s authorities about the wedding and was assured there wouldn’t be a problem with a potential date clash, as the last eight stage would be held across two days, like it had been scheduled over the past several years in the event.

If he got that far in the competition, he could play his quarter-final tie on the Thursday, leaving him free for the wedding the next day.

However, the official in question Higgins spoke to about the situation had since left the organisation, and all four quarter-final matches were now set to be played on the Friday.

Aware of the overlap but unwilling to miss his brother’s big day, Higgins still turned up to the event in Telford to collect rankings points, stating his intentions of pulling out if he reached the last eight later in the week.

And Higgins was true to his word, forgoing the chance of retaining the crown and pocketing a £62,000 first prize, leaving after his last 16 win to fulfil his best man duties north of the border.

Speaking to the BBC at the time about the situation, a frustrated Higgins said: “It was a tough decision, but I’m certainly not going to miss my brother’s wedding for anything.

"I'm gutted to be doing this but I gave the association eight months' notice of my brother's impending wedding and I was assured that there wouldn't be a problem. You shouldn't give promises and break them.

"There was talk of getting a helicopter down here after the ceremony but there's no chance of that.

"This is an experience I don't want to ever repeat. It's heart-breaking coming down to a tournament knowing full well you've got no chance of winning the title.”

A spokesperson from the governing body said: “As far as we are aware, no assurances were given to John Higgins about the dates of the Grand Prix.

"We have tried to accommodate John as far as possible by moving his quarter-final, should he reach that stage, from the afternoon to the evening session on Friday.”

Higgins’ scheduled quarter-final opponent Graeme Dott received a bye into the last four. The tournament was eventually won by Williams - who was the world champion and world number one at the time - after defeating Ronnie O’Sullivan 9-5 in the final.