John Higgins (snooker player) title, which prompted Steve Davis to comment "I think John Higgins is the best snooker player I've ever seen in my life". Despite the victory, Higgins lost the world number one ranking to Mark Williams. Higgins had a poor 2011/2012 season, reaching only two quarter finals of major ranking events. His season-best performance was reaching the semi-finals of the Masters, where he lost 4–6 to Shaun Murphy. Before the start of his World Championship title defence, he admitted that his performance levels had not been good enough and that he had not been trying hard enough, managing just one or
World Snooker Championship attempt. At Higgins was the youngest world champion. Previously only Joe Davis had won the title while under the age of 30, being when he won in 1927. The 1973 Championship marked a change in format, with the tournament played over two weeks at a single venue rather than over an extended period. 16 played in the first round, the 8 winners playing 8 seeded players in the second round. In the semi-finals, defending champion Alex Higgins lost 23–9 to Eddie Charlton while Ray Reardon beat John Spencer 23–22. In the 5-day final Charlton led 7–0 after the opening session