“JOHN HIGGINS slammed the conditions of the “pathetic” snooker table in Saudi Arabia, claiming it had beer mats under the legs to raise its height. The Scotsman, a four-time world champion, advanced to the quarter-finals of the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship with a 4-0 thrashing of Ding Junhui. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank”, — write: www.thesun.co.uk
The Scotsman, a four-time world champion, advanced to the quarter-finals of the Riyadh Season Snooker Championship with a 4-0 thrashing of Ding Junhui.
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John Higgins was left fuming at the quality of the table at the Riyadh Season Snooker ChampionshipCredit: Getty 
He defeated Ding Junhui 4-0 in the second roundCredit: Getty Ding, 38, only scored 47 points in the four frames and Higgins struggled himself until finishing up with two successive 106 breaks.
As someone who has travelled the world playing the sport for nearly 40 years, Higgins knows a good and bad table when he plays one.
The Wizard of Wishaw – who faces defending champion Mark Allen on Thursday in Riyadh – reckons the table for this lucrative, star-studded event was all wrong and should never have been cleared.
This is a big-money event with £250,000 for the champion on Friday night, and there is a $1million bonus on the table for anyone who compiles a 167 break (the 147 maximum plus the 20-point Gold Ball).
Higgins, 50, said: “It was a little bit difficult at the time. I think me and Ding really struggled with the table.
“The first couple of frames there wasn’t bite on the table. With me and Ding being only five foot five each, we really struggled with the table.
“It’s as if there are beer mats underneath the whole table, and it’s raised up. Somebody really needs to get told.
“I don’t know who has passed that but it’s pathetic for a million-pound tournament. It really is bad. I don’t know who has passed that.”
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Players involved on day one of this Saudi tournament at Boulevard City in the capital city felt the cloth was very quick and this took some adjustment.
Higgins said: “There was no grip. No grip whatsoever. You could probably see the first couple of frames, I am trying to stun (the cue-ball) and it’s just rolling through. You can’t stop the cue-ball.
“I think it’s the cushions. The cushions were playing really, really fast. That makes it very difficult to play on.”
Stephen Hendry, the seven-time world champion, who was working for the host broadcaster, said: “I actually thought it was part of the design of the table.
“Now, when John pointed it out, it’s incredible how much it has been built up. I can only assume the floor is so uneven, that they have had to build the table up.
“As a player, you really feel the difference.”
BELOW is a list of snooker World Champions by year.
The first World Championships ran from 1927 – with a break from 1941-45 because of World War II and 1958-63 because of a dispute in the sport.
Joe Davis (15), Fred Davis and John Pulman (both 8) were the most successful players during that period.
Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O’Sullivan share the record for the most titles in the modern era, with seven each.
- 1969 – John Spencer
- 1970 – Ray Reardon
- 1971 – John Spencer
- 1972 – Alex Higgins
- 1973 – Ray Reardon (2)
- 1974 – Ray Reardon (3)
- 1975 – Ray Reardon (4)
- 1976 – Ray Reardon (5)
- 1977 – John Spencer (2)
- 1978 – Ray Reardon (6)
- 1979 – Terry Griffiths
- 1980 – Cliff Thorburn
- 1981 – Steve Davis
- 1982 – Alex Higgins (2)
- 1983 – Steve Davis (2)
- 1984 – Steve Davis (3)
- 1985 – Dennis Taylor
- 1986 – Joe Johnson
- 1987 – Steve Davis (4)
- 1988 – Steve Davis (5)
- 1989 – Steve Davis (6)
- 1990 – Stephen Hendry
- 1991 – John Parrott
- 1992 – Stephen Hendry (2)
- 1993 – Stephen Hendry (3)
- 1994 – Stephen Hendry (4)
- 1995 – Stephen Hendry (5)
- 1996 – Stephen Hendry (6)
- 1997 – Ken Doherty
- 1998 – John Higgins
- 1999 – Stephen Hendry (7)
- 2000 – Mark Williams
- 2001 – Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 2002 – Peter Ebdon
- 2003 – Mark Williams (2)
- 2004 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (2)
- 2005 – Shaun Murphy
- 2006 – Graeme Dott
- 2007 – John Higgins (2)
- 2008 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (3)
- 2009 – John Higgins (3)
- 2010 – Neil Robertson
- 2011 – John Higgins (4)
- 2012 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (4)
- 2013 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (5)
- 2014 – Mark Selby
- 2015 – Stuart Bingham
- 2016 – Mark Selby (2)
- 2017 – Mark Selby (3)
- 2018 – Mark Williams (3)
- 2019 – Judd Trump
- 2020 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (6)
- 2021 – Mark Selby (4)
- 2022 – Ronnie O’Sullivan (7)
- 2023 – Luca Brecel
- 2024 – Kyren Wilson
- 2025 – Zhao Xintong
Most World Titles (modern era)
- 7 – Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O’Sullivan
- 6 – Ray Reardon, Steve Davis
- 4 – John Higgins, Mark Selby
- 3 – John Spencer, Mark Williams
- 2 – Alex Higgins