New world champion John Higgins has said he thinks he is capable of winning another two titles.
World champion hoping to join Hendry, Davis and Reardon
New world champion John Higgins has said he thinks he is capable of winning another two titles.
The Scot was speaking in the aftermath of his 18-9 victory against Shaun Murphy at the Crucible on Monday night - Higgins' win securing his third world title in all.
That mark brings him level with Ronnie O'Sullivan and John Spencer in the modern era, which began in 1969 with the advent of the knockout format.
Only Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and Ray Reardon have won more than three world titles during the last 40 years.
And the 'Wizard of Wishaw' has predicted he can join them if he can reproduce his current form when it matters most.
"Playing at that level I can win one or two," said Higgins, who also won in 1998 and 2007.
"I don't think I'm going to decline rapidly in the next two or three years.
"They'll be my best opportunities.
"These are going to be important years for me."
The final was a relatively one-sided affair for Higgins compared with his earlier matches against up-and-coming youngsters Jamie Cope, Mark Selby and Mark Allen.
He came from 12-10 behind to beat Cope 13-12 in the second round, and from 12-11 down to defeat Selby 13-12 in the quarter-finals.
Higgins then had to fend off a determined fightback from Allen in the semis before progressing.
"I've beaten four people who in the next two or three years could be the top four players in the world," he said. "That's how highly I rate them."
Crucial match
Higgins identified the match against Cope as being crucial to his title bid, the pair having to leave the table with the score at 12-12 after a spectator collapsed.
He subsequently returned to pot a difficult long red and embark upon a match-winning break.
"That could just have been the turning point of the whole championship," he said.
"I went back to my dressing room and knew I was left with a certain shot.
"I had a good look at the red and knew it was a really tough one. And that was the red which probably won me this championship.
"That probably gave me that bit of belief that I could go on and win it."
Murphy, world champion in 2005 and the current UK champion, admitted that his performance in the final had been something of a let down.
He said: "All the great names - every single one of them - have played in a final and been beaten here.
"So I now know how they felt, and if it inspired them to go and be better players then it will inspire me to go on and be better.
"It's been a really fun event for me. It's a 17-day tournament and 15-and-a-half of those days have been fantastic for me.
"The last day-and-a-half has been not that great and it's something I hope to forget."
