Higgins has the cuepower but not the brainpower
John Higgins won Group 2 of the Championship League to book his place in the Winners' Group at the same time as a recording of his appearance on Mastermind was being shown on the BBC.
World champion John Higgins played his way into form ahead of the Pokerstars Masters on Sunday, by scraping through Group 1 in fifth place and winning Group 2.
Scotsman Higgins joins his countryman Stephen Maguire, who triumphed in Group One earlier in the week, in the Winners' Group in March, after beating Allister Carter 3-1 in the final of Group Two.
Higgins and Maguire had travelled together and were staying in the same hotel and Higgins revealed some banter from his friend had helped with his motivation.
"Stephen was giving me a bit of stick as he had already made it through and he was relaxing at the spa in the hotel enjoying himself so it's good to get through," said Higgins.
"In Group One I was a bit rusty as it was the first time I had picked up my cue since the Killarney and I never touched it over Christmas.
"The Championship is a great tournament and one of the main reasons why I won the World Championship last year. It's great match practice for all the boys and the practice you get against the best players in the world is invaluable.
"There's a real buzz about snooker at the moment with Barry Hearn coming in and we're hoping he could bring his skills of promotion to the game.
"It's been a real kick up the backside for the sport and hopefully we can grow as a sport and have people talking about us in good terms instead of negative ones as snooker is still obviously a good sport."
Meanwhile Higgins appeared on the latest in the series of Celebrity Mastermind, where celebs from all walks of life have been competing for their chosen charity.
Higgins named Brain Injured Children as his charity, but his paltry return of 4 points on the General Knowledge section, amidst a fit of the giggles, didn't help his cause.
The World champion chose the 1980s Soap Dallas as his specialist subject and scored 13 points.
He finished the event tied third with former Conservative leader Michael Howard on 17 points, trailing weatherman Alex Deacon on 25 and a long way behind the winner, soul singer Beverley Knight who totalled 29 points.
