John Higgins claims he may retire after 2024 World Snooker Championships

Snooker ace John Higgins has claimed he could quit the sport if he drops out of the world top 16 next season.

Twenty-five years on from his first win, Higgins saw his dreams of a fifth World Championship triumph crumble as he lost 13-7 to Mark Selby in the quarter-finals.

World No.11 Higgins, 47, from Wishaw, has endured an inconsistent season and his run to the last-eight was only his second quarter-final appearance, though he has pocketed £300,000.

Another poor campaign at the World Championships could see him drop out of the elite 16 for the first time since 1995, and Higgins says that's when he might have to ask himself some searching questions.

He said: "It has been a poor season, there's no getting away from that.

"I'll definitely need to come back next year and produce a better standard and have a better season.

"If not, it will look like I'm probably falling out of the top 16, then when you do that, there could be a few questions in my own mind, I suppose.

"We'll need to wait and see next year."

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