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John Higgins has previously confessed to not having a close bond with Ronnie O'Sullivan, despite their many battles at the snooker table. The pair are scheduled to face each other at the World Snooker Championship on Saturday.

Forming part of the sport's renowned Class of '92 alongside Mark Williams, Higgins and O'Sullivan have been constants throughout each other's 34-year careers. Their upcoming last-16 match at the Crucible will be their 80th meeting, with the rivals having won a combined 11 world championships and 74 ranking titles. 'The Rocket' set up a match with Higgins after breezing past China's He Guoqiang in a dominant 10-2 win, while 'The Wizard of Wishaw' advanced to the second round with a 10-7 victory over Ali Carter. However, Higgins has admitted that he would not consider O'Sullivan a friend.

"I get asked about that and it's the same answer I give, I don't really know Ronnie at all," Higgins told the Talking Snooker podcast in 2023. "When you think all these years we've been on the tour, we've never really been that close, I could count on one hand the amount of meals we've had together.

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"But I've got the utmost respect for him as a snooker player, incredible player and I think it goes back to what I said about Mark Williams. Going for the same titles, you cannot be all that friendly with each other.

"Respect of course, but being friends, nah. We're different characters as well, the three of us, totally different characters."

Higgins explained that competing for the same titles had strained his relationship with Class of '92 icon Williams in the past. However, seven-time world champion O'Sullivan has shared a different reason for wanting to keep his distance from other players on the snooker circuit.

"I think Mark and John are better friends than I am with them," O'Sullivan said to TNT Sports. "I don't really get close to anyone on the snooker circuit, because I don't really hang around tournaments.

"No one sees me, I'd rather be down the gym or go running, or go to nice restaurants, while a lot of the players hang out with each other."

He added: "I don't want to talk about snooker, I get bored talking about rankings, about what world snooker is doing. I have zero interest in snooker as far as that's concerned. I choose to separate work from my off time."