John Higgins admits that trying to juggle family life with a vastly expanded snooker calendar has led to a decline in his performance this season.
Higgins won six titles last season, including the Betfred.com World Championship, which begins at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on Saturday. However, the 36-year-old from Wishaw has failed to reach a major final during the current campaign, one of the most disappointing of his 20-year professional career.
Barry Hearn's chairmanship of World Snooker has seen the schedule expand from eight tournaments to almost 30, with more on the way. Higgins, who has three children, is already considering missing the first two events of next season because they clash with the school holidays.
"I believe next year we are playing more events in China. Basically, when the World Championship ends we have a month off," he said. "It's hard juggling kids' school holidays and stuff. That is maybe why I will have to miss the first couple of tournaments of the new season because of the kids' summer break.
"Sometimes when you've been away for a while you don't fancy going to the club to practise. I know the reasons I haven't done well this season."
Higgins will attempt to lessen the amount of time spent away from his family by having a snooker room built at home so he can practise without leaving the house.
Despite the new pressures on his time, the four-time world champion remains a supporter of the Hearn revolution. "There are times when you don't enjoy it and are going through a tough time privately, but if you think of the chances we are getting under Barry, it's a good job to be doing if you are doing it well," he said.
"There is no point in crying about it. If you don't get on Barry's ship, you are going to be left in a dinghy trailing at the end. The waves will crash over you. He has no time for passengers and rightly so. He is a businessman. It is up to us as players to juggle our lives to coincide with the new season. It is tough, but let me tell you it is a great choice to have."
Higgins will find out his first-round opponent when the draw is made tomorrow. "I'll be putting in the work this week," he said. "Walking out on Saturday morning to defend the world title is the most nerve-wracking feeling in snooker and nobody wants to lose on the first day."
Stephen Maguire, the runner-up in this season's German Masters and China Open, and Graeme Dott, the 2006 champion, are the other Scottish players seeded through to the Crucible.
Stephen Hendry, seven times the winner in the 1990s, is having to qualify for the first time since 1988. He resumes this afternoon 6-3 up against Yu Delu, needing to reach 10 to be in tomorrow's draw.
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