Devastated John Higgins pleads 'next question' to interviewer after losing in The Masters

Snooker icon John Higgins let out his emotion during a post-match interview after losing a final frame decider to Mark Allen at The Masters.

Four-time world champion Higgins, who is ranked at world number 12. entered the event at Alexandra Palace on the back of some decent form, having reached the semi-final of the Scottish Open and the Champion of Champions tournaments at the end of last year.

The Scot, though, hasn't reached the final of a ranking event in nearly two years, when he lost 10-9 to Neil Robertson - having been 9-4 up - at the 2022 Tour Championship.

But while 'The Wizard of Wishaw' isn't as regular a ranking event winner as he was during the 2000s and 2010s, he is still a force to be reckoned with at the top end of the sport, and participated in The Masters by being a member of the top 16.

Higgins went 3-1 up against Allen, before losing three consecutive frames to put him on the brink of defeat in the best of 11 frames match.

But he fought back to take the match to a final frame, in which Allen hit a break of 86 to prevail into the quarter finals.

After the defeat, Higgins completed his post-match media duties with an interview with Eurosport's Rachel Casey, and couldn't hide his devastation at losing in such a manner.

When asked whether losing the match, or his own performance, hurt more, he responded: "I don't even know, Rachel. Just, just... next question."

He said: "You don't really get as many chances against Mark as I got today, and I just didn't capitalise on it, really.

"To go 5-2 behind was really poor from me.

"Yeah [I still have the pain to lose]. Another tough one there, but what can you do?"

Higgins is currently in 12th position in the world rankings, meaning he is currently on course to secure an automatic qualification spot for the 2024 World Championship.

But that is not yet guaranteed, and the Scot would need to go through qualification to enter the 32-strong field if he drops out of the top 16 by March.

Speaking in an interview with Metro ahead of the tournament, the 48-year-old admitted that he had let some negative thoughts creep in recently.

He explained: "I'm in a battle to qualify for the Crucible and would then be outside the top 16.

"But I've got a lot to play for now and can certainly play my way into a lot of big events, that's what I should be concentrating on just now.

"That's maybe what's been my problem in the last however many years - I've been thinking about the negatives rather than the positives. Maybe I should be looking at the positives more."