A devastated John Higgins insisted he 'hasn't got it at this level' after he suffered his second title heartbreak in a month by losing a final frame decider to Neil Robertson at the English Open.
Last month, Higgins lost 9-8 to Mark Allen in the Northern Ireland Open after being 8-6 ahead - and lightning struck twice for the Wizard of Wishaw as Australian Roberston claimed the English Open title in similar circumstances.
Higgins fought back from 5-3 down to lead 7-5 and then 8-6, but Robertson battled back to take the trophy after Higgins skewed a red well wide of the pocket in the final frame and he put the match beyond the Scotsman.
In his post-match interview on Eurosport, Higgins was visibly frustrated and said: "I think this afternoon, I was a little bit tired but Neil made me tired.
"I felt like I was Mowgli out of the Jungle Book; see when it was the snake and it was putting him to sleep? The way Neil was hitting the ball, he's such an unbelievable player, I was nearly sleeping the way he kept banging the back of the pockets.
"I went back to the room, had an hour's sleep, woke up and didn't know where I was.
"I felt a bit more energised for tonight and played well, but the last two finals I really do think it shows I've not got it at this level.
"But Neil was unbelievable. What a champion. It was great to share a final with him.
"I came out the loser again, but every credit to him. He was fantastic."
The 46-year-old trailed 5-3 at the end of the afternoon session, but came out firing in the evening to win the first four frames of the final session and race into a 7-5 lead.
But Robertson manged to stop the rot in frame 13 with a break of 80 to cut the deficit to one frame.
Higgins edged two frames in front again to leave him needing one away from claiming the title. Still Robertson wouldn't go away and he upped his game to claim the next two frames on the bounce, recording a brilliant break of 120 in frame 16, to force a nail-biting decider.
In the decider, Higgins made the worst possible start, missing a red on his first shot of the frame to allow Robertson in. Both players spurned chances though amid the nerves.
The crucial slip came with Higgins leading 22-8 in the frame and he skewed a red well wide of the corner pocket to allow Robertson back to the table.
This time there was to be no mistake, and Robertson closed out the match with a break of 65 to inflict another painful defeat on the four-time world champion.
Follow Lanarkshire Live Sport on Twitter via @LanLiveSport, like us on Facebook or find us on Instagram for the latest sports news, pictures and video.
