John Higgins wins with broken rib injury at Scottish Open
- Published
Higgins was the Scottish Open runner-up in 2016 and reached the last four in 2017
John Higgins played through the pain of a broken rib to eke out a 4-3 first round win over Adam Duffy at the Scottish Open.
The four-time world champion, 43, survived despite a wobbly performance at Glasgow's Emirates Arena.
"It's a floating broken rib, it's happened before," he told Eurosport.
"It's a football injury. It was the League Cup final up here last weekend (Celtic beat Aberdeen on 2 December) and I'd had a few drinks..."
Asked if he would have pulled out if it had been any other tournament, the Scot replied: "Yes, without a doubt.
"My family and friends were coming to see me. It's the only chance they get. They've not seen me in a final lately."
When asked if he could win the tournament for a third time, he laughed: "No chance."
Following his second round exit at the UK Championship, the day before his cup final trip to Hampden, Higgins had hinted at retirement, despite being ranked fourth in the world.
"My head is all over the place, I've never felt as bad as this," he said when questioned about those comments.
Fellow Scots Stephen Maguire and Anthony McGill both fell to surprise defeats in Glasgow but Graeme Dott cruised through, beating Xu Si 4-1.
Maguire, who reached the semi-finals at the UK Championship, lost 4-1 to Billy Joe Castle, while McGill went down 4-2 to Zhang Yong of China.
Defending champion Neil Robertson will play Scotland's Ross Muir in the second round after both men opened with 4-1 victories.