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
1997 Grand Prix (snooker) 1997 Grand Prix (snooker) The 1997 Grand Prix was a professional snooker tournament and the first of eight WPBSA ranking events in the 1997/1998 season, preceding the UK Championship. It was held from 14 to 26 October 1997 at the Bournemouth International Centre in Bournemouth, England. Mark Williams was the defending champion, but he lost his last 32 match against Matthew Stevens. Dominic Dale won his first ranking title by defeating John Higgins 9–6 in the final. Defending champion Mark Williams was the number 1 seed with World Champion Ken Doherty seeded 2. The remaining places were allocated to players