John Higgins and Alan McManus make case for change to conditions at Home Nations events - 'It is lopsided at the moment'
Published 28/02/2026 at 14:39 GMT
React to this story
John Higgins will take on Jack Lisowski in the semi-finals of the Welsh Open at Venue Cymru in Llandudno on Saturday evening and he is hopeful that conditions will be better than the previous day after suggesting the table did not play as it should. Watch and stream the 2025/26 snooker season, including the Welsh Open, live on TNT Sports and discovery+
‘Possibly the worst safety shot I've seen him play’ - Higgins stuns with poor safety
Video credit: TNT Sports
John Higgins and Alan McManus have called on World Snooker to make changes to the setup of tables at Home Nations events.
Higgins eased into the semi-finals of the Welsh Open with a 5-0 win over Zhou Yuelong.
The scoreline suggested a dominant performance, but both Higgins and Zhou struggled on a table the former said was "heavy" and with tough cushions.
The table at Venue Cymru will be re-covered for the semi-finals and final, which Higgins believes will make a vast difference in terms of how it plays, but the five-time Welsh Open winner suggested it would make the conditions better for all the players if they made the change before the quarter-finals.
"It was really heavy," Higgins told TNT Sports. "We were trying to work it out but it is the same at all the Home Nations.
"I don’t like getting in trouble because I am already up for disciplinary and different things, but there have been 20 sessions played on that table and then when it gets re-covered, there’s only going to be four sessions: the two semi-finals and the final. So 20 and four, you can do the maths."
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/02/27/image-37eb5f2f-280d-4713-9dc7-49237cf06771-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
'Best doubler in the game' - Higgins sinks double to take frame
Video credit: TNT Sports
McManus concurred with Higgins’ view that the table should be re-covered before the quarter-finals.
"We have, at the moment, a seven-day event," McManus said. "We have five days of play on the main table, on a cloth. It then gets changed for two days - which constitutes four sessions of snooker.
"Why not have four days, then three days, rather than five and two?
"It is lopsided at the moment and, on the first three days, there is a morning match on top of the other sessions.
"It is a point that is worth making, as if you ask any snooker player on the tour would it be sensible to re-cover before the quarter-finals? To a player they would say yes."
- Why O'Sullivan could revisit favourite joke in title bid
- 'Does not look impressed' - Lisowski overcomes free ball controversy to beat Bingham
Despite the dominant scoreline, Higgins said he had no confidence at the table.
"It is that I am not confident in what the cushions are going to play like," Higgins said. "It is like I am under-hitting every single shot. You cannot go through the white as you would like, you become very tentative.
"We [Zhou and Higgins] spoke about it at the mid-session interval. He said it was unplayable."
Higgins suggested it may be time for the players to make their feelings known to officials.
/origin-imgresizer.tntsports.io/2026/02/27/image-88cca09c-2f7b-4cd6-a30b-532c85ecfea9-85-2560-1440.jpeg)
'His extraordinary career at the top level continues' - Higgins wraps up win over Zhou
Video credit: TNT Sports
"With World Snooker, it’s at the start of the season and it has always been like this," Higgins said. "It is actually up to others to come forward and make a change.
"They are just standing by their own rules and will say that nothing has changed and that they have probably not been given any bad reports and that is maybe why they have not changed.
"I think maybe sometimes the players get fed up with putting in bad reports as it might not happen.
"In their [World Snooker] defence, they will just do what they always do so it means at the start of next season, hopefully, that can be rectified - where it might be in the contract where there has got to be another re-cover during a Home Nations event."
In response, World Snooker told TNT Sports: "We always welcome feedback from players about playing conditions and we have a process in place where they can provide comments to us at the end of every match. We always strive to provide the best possible playing conditions at every tournament."
'Who shot Bambi?'
Higgins will face Jack Lisowski in the second semi-final on Saturday evening and the Scot is the only person standing between Lisowski and the £150,000 BetVictor Home Nations Series bonus.
If Lisowski books his place in the final in Llandudno, he would pip Mark Allen to the prize.
TNT Sports’ Rachel Casey suggested that should Higgins derail Lisowski, it could be a case of "who shot Bambi?" given the latter's popularity.
Higgins feels Lisowski will not be weighed down by the pressure, but will not flinch if the chance arises for him to stop his opponent from picking up the bonus.
"It could be Jack’s biggest money match he has ever played," Higgins said. "I think he will be totally fine. It could give him that spur to go out and go for it.
"I can’t wait to play Jack. We all know what Jack has been through off the table.
"He had a great win in Northern Ireland then went missing for a few months, which is understandable. But it looks as if he has got his mojo back. Every time I click on the TV he is in the background practising.
"Everything looks great for him, so I have got to scupper it."
Watch and stream the 2025/26 snooker season, including the Welsh Open, live on TNT Sports and discovery+
Related Topics
Advertisement
Advertisement