2026 International Championship: John Higgins back to basics as he seeks to get snooker juices flowing again

Snooker legend Higgins is in Nanjing, China where he is competing at the 2026 International Championship. On Sunday, the 51-year-old top scored with a break of 122 during a 6-3 victory over Lyu Haotian; he faces Xu Si in the last 32 on Monday.

Speaking after his win, though, Higgins was downbeat about the current state of his game.

“I'm just struggling. Some frames good, some frames bad” he told the World Snooker Tour.

Higgins has had a frustrating start to his 35th consecutive season on the professional circuit. The 33-time ranking event winner has elected to miss a few tournaments, but from his four completed outings in ranked competition this term, he has reached the last 16 just once.

That run came at the British Open in Cheltenham during which he discussed having motivation issues for the new campaign.

Going into the televised stages of the ongoing International Championship, Higgins was placed 79th on the one-year ranking list, meaning he is in real danger of missing out on this season’s lucrative Players Series trio of events.

Currently sixth on the overall world rankings (which are based on a two-year cycle), Higgins’ last top-flight title came at the Tour Championship in April 2026, although he came very close to more gold last season, finishing runner-up at last year’s International Championship, as well as the 2026 Masters and 2026 Players Championship.

Positive signs for Higgins as he reverts back to brass ferrule

Higgins is one of the players often talked about when it comes to changing equipment. The Scot was one of the first to experiment using a titanium ferrule on his cue.

But Higgins has now joined several of his star name peers in changing back to traditional brass - Neil Robertson did this earlier this season - and is already feeling more comfortable on the green baize, although he says he still needs competitive wins to boost his confidence.

“I'm trying to get back to basics...I'm back to brass - same as the rest of the boys” he said.

“In the last week even in practice it feels...so much better. But it's trying to get wins now because obviously I'm not confident out there in the match arena and I can miss anything.

“But right now, I definitely think it's going to be so much better for me moving forward”.

One of the reasons why Higgins tried titanium is because of his snooker cue tip size, although in recent times he has reduced this.

“I'm really just trying to get back to basics for the last couple of years, the way I used to play, the way my equipment used to be, and I'm trying to get back to that and it seems OK”.

Higgins’ snooker retirement plan and searching for inspiration

Higgins’ place as one of snooker’s all-time greats was confirmed many years ago, but he clearly still takes pride in his performance very seriously.

Earlier this season, Higgins - who is one of only four players to have constructed over 1,000 century breaks in professional competition (at the time of writing) - talked about a retirement plan and winding down his playing engagements.

His game currently isn’t where he wants it to be, but Higgins is hopeful of finding form to stimulate his game.

"It gets you really down. But listen, I've had a good career - the last couple of years I'll try and do my best and my wife will come to a lot more tournaments so I'll have a bit more enjoyment now because it's soul destroying being in hotel rooms and different things”.

Higgins pinpointed the UK Championship and the Masters - which are on the near horizon - as sources of inspiration. "That can get the juices flowing, obviously...they're the big events...but if you're really struggling you don't like it out there in front of a lot of people and not playing great.

“Listen, obviously I'll see what happens in the next few months...hopefully it can give me a wee bit of confidence”.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 International Championship, visit our tournament information centre here.