This week's edition of the Snooker Club Podcast welcomed sporting royalty, with six-time Olympic gold medalist Sir Chris Hoy joining presenters Stephen Hendry and Mark Watson.
The show opened up with Hendry and Watson discussing the very latest from the World Snooker Tour, where John Higgins has finally returned to the winner's enclosure after four years without ranking silverware.
The Scot defeated Joe O'Connor 10-6 in the final of the Weide Cup World Open in Yushan, to pick up the 32nd ranking title of his illustrious career. Higgins has continued his fine form this week in Hong Kong, where he's beaten World Champion Kyren Wilson to make the quarter-finals of the World Grand Prix. However, Hendry believes Higgins will be setting his sights on the horizon, with the World Championship looming. He's backing his compatriot to be a key contender at the Crucible, citing his fierce determination to add further titles before his career ends.
Hendry said: “I think he’s obviously a different animal to Mark Williams, who takes it and leaves it whatever happens. I think John is more intense about his career and this win will have given him tremendous belief of winning again. He might have questioned that. That fire is still burning. He won’t be a prolific winner again, but having got that win he can definitely do it once or twice a season. The interesting one to me will be Sheffield. John Higgins going there with belief behind him, I wouldn’t like to write him off.
“The last four or five years he has had some horror shows. Losing matches from miles in front. Neil Robertson in the 2022 Tour Championship is the one that sticks in my mind. He was 9-5 up and lost 10-9. I don’t know if he has been questioning in private if he can go on like this. He was dicing with the top 16 and managed to stay in there. He’s may have been coming to a time when he was wondering if his wins are behind him. The new cue this season has been a Godsend for him. To get back to winning an event like this, I’m delighted for him."
Runner-up O'Connor enjoyed a tremendous week, beating the likes of Johnstone's Paint Masters champion Shaun Murphy and world number one Judd Trump. Hendry thinks that he must now focus on being more prolific against lower ranked opposition.
“He was probably an underdog in every match he played. There’s not that much pressure. You still have to perform and he performed magnificently. What would tell me more about Joe O’Connor is when he’s coming to tournaments and against players he is supposed to beat. Can he still dominate when he’s expected to? That’s a completely different attribute to your game if you want to get to the top of the rankings. You need to be ruthless and beat the players you are supposed to. It is all very well playing brilliant matches against players you aren’t favourite against, but can he do it week after week and beat people he is supposed to beat?"
Hendry and Watson went on to chat with Hoy about his incredible career in track cycling and discuss the core of his winning mentality, as well as his love for the sport of snooker.