Higgins had a poor 2011–12 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 two days of practice a week. In the first round of the tournament, he came from 6–8 down to defeat Liang Wenbo 10–9. He then played Stephen Hendry in the second round, the first time the two players had ever met in a World Championship, but Hendry thrashed the defending champion 13–4, with Higgins calling it the worst he had ever played at the Crucible. He finished the season ranked world number five.