After losing the Scottish Open, Ronnie O’Sullivan insisted that John Higgins should play a more “aggressive” style. After dropping the last five sets of the match, Higgins was defeated 6-3 by Noppon Saengkham, ending his hopes of winning his first rankings title since early 2021. Higgins had advanced to the semi-finals in Edinburgh.

Higgins’ disappointing form in recent years has drawn plenty of criticism, including from O’Sullivan who previously called on the Wizard of Wishaw to improve and be able to grind out wins when he is not performing to the highest level.

Higgins was in command as he led Saengkham 3-1 but all of a sudden collapsed, prompting O’Sullivan to advise his fellow Class of 92 member to play more on the front foot.

“If I was giving John a bit of advice I’d probably say be a bit more aggressive,” O’Sullivan told Eurosport. “I think to win matches now at this level you have got to find a high gear. John is very solid, but I don’t know if solid is good enough at the moment with this level.

“I think he has got to push the boundaries a bit more. He is such a good player that if he came out and played with the aggressiveness that Noppon played with I think he would scare people more. It is tough to give someone like John advice, no one knows his game better than John does, but I just watch him sometimes and if he was to really push the boat out – that’s all I think he can try.

“No one likes playing someone that is coming at you at 100mph constantly. When someone backs off a bit you can get comfortable in the match and John has got to stop letting people feel comfortable against him. With John he just wants to win something and I think his best way of doing it is going and going.