Heroic Higgins books place in Cazoo Champion of Champions semi-finals with win over Ding Junhui
JOHN HIGGINS produced the best snooker of the Cazoo Champion of Champions so far to storm into the semi-finals.
The Wizard of Wishaw swept aside Ding Junhui 6-1 in the Group 1 final at Bolton’s Toughsheet Stadium, to set up a tournament semi-final against Mark Allen on Saturday night.
The snooker was of the highest quality and Higgins had the crowd buzzing in the opening frame as he edged towards a maximum 147 break.
At 48-years-old, he would have been the oldest man in snooker history to make a maximum, but his bid came undone when he was on 96 and the 13th red rattled in the jaws of a pocket.
Ding, nicknamed Enter The Dragon, hit back immediately with a 106 break to level the match, before Higgins regained the lead with a break of 83.
Higgins, who has been a professional for 31 years, didn’t look back after that as he reeled off the next four frames with breaks of 80 or higher to book his third Champion of Champions semi-final appearance.
Higgins, who lost only one frame all day, said: “I felt good out there today and I really enjoyed it. It’s a brilliant venue and I can’t wait to come back on Saturday.
“Me and Mark always have great matches. Last time he pipped me 9-8 in the Northern Ireland final so maybe I owe him one back. I can’t wait to play him.”
Higgins was firing on all cylinders from Wednesday’s first break, beating Chris Wakelin 4-0 in the Group 1 opener as he opened with a 70 and never looked back.
Wakelin, who had not beaten Higgins in three attempts, looked out-of-sorts in his first appearance at the Champion of Champions, and never recovered from missing an important pink in the second frame.
The other best of seven frames Group match was the battle of the two Chinese stars, with man of the moment, Zhang Anda, looking to book a clash against his idol, Scotsman Higgins.
Arriving on the back of his weekend International Championship victory, he fought back brilliantly from 3-0 down to level against Ding – who was a last-minute replacement for Ronnie O’Sullivan.
However, he was finally beaten in a thrilling decider on the final black.
This report doesn’t do justice to one of the best, and most extraordinary best of 7 match you can ever see. Indeed the match between Zhang Anda and Ding Junhui delivered huge drama and, in particular, one absolutely superb clearance by Zhang Anda.
Here it is, shared by Matchroom Multisport on their YouTube Channel:
There was a huge crowd in attendance, likely attracted by the prospect to watch Ronnie. The fans were served an absolute treat and showed their appreciation with a standing ovation and the end of the match. Both players were chased for autographs. They deserved it! Zhang could have suffered a “hang-over” after winning his first ranking tittle, Ding had to fly from China at the very last moment. All credits to them both.
Alan McManus and Neal Foulds were lost for words in the studio after the match.
Yes, Higgins won the group, playing very well, but Ding was probably very tired in that match, after the thrill of the afternoon and the long last minute trip. Zhang also had traveled late after his triumph in Tianjin. What the Chinese lads produced was something very special. Congratulations to them.
3 thoughts on “2023 Champion of Champions – Day 3”
Yesterday’s matches showed up the weakness of the tournament structure. One match was over too quickly, and the other was compelling enough to be a longer match. Then the evening match was probably affected by the two players’ efforts earlier. There will always be a scheduling issue with players returning from China, in both cases the day before their match. It’s always tough to play twice in a day, but even more with a best-of-11 against a top player (Wang Xinzhong had to play two best-of-11’s in a day and he’s only 12!). John Higgins was superb, as he often is. It’s a question whether he can keep up this standard to the end.
In Qatar, Hong Kong won the teams (Cheung Ka Wai and Change Yu Kiu). Now they are playing Women’s and Seniors’ events. Remarkably, Bai Yulu and Ng On Yee were drawn in the same group, and played the first match. Bai won 2-0, with a break of 80 in the first, and a black-ball steal in the second.
Pity to Ng not participating the Women’s Masters. Lots of points gone.
On Yee Ng is in Doha for the IBSF Women’s tournament, as is Bai Yulu. See Lewis latest comment.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Yesterday’s matches showed up the weakness of the tournament structure. One match was over too quickly, and the other was compelling enough to be a longer match. Then the evening match was probably affected by the two players’ efforts earlier. There will always be a scheduling issue with players returning from China, in both cases the day before their match. It’s always tough to play twice in a day, but even more with a best-of-11 against a top player (Wang Xinzhong had to play two best-of-11’s in a day and he’s only 12!). John Higgins was superb, as he often is. It’s a question whether he can keep up this standard to the end.
In Qatar, Hong Kong won the teams (Cheung Ka Wai and Change Yu Kiu). Now they are playing Women’s and Seniors’ events. Remarkably, Bai Yulu and Ng On Yee were drawn in the same group, and played the first match. Bai won 2-0, with a break of 80 in the first, and a black-ball steal in the second.
On Yee Ng is in Doha for the IBSF Women’s tournament, as is Bai Yulu. See Lewis latest comment.