John Higgins scored a comfortable 6-2 win over Oliver Lines at the International Championship in Nanjing and afterwards admitted he’s in a far better place than his last trip to China.
The legendary Scot conceded he was struggling for motivation at the Wuhan Open earlier in the season. He said this was prompted by a bucket list holiday to the set of the set of American soap opera Dallas for his 50th birthday during the summer.
However, since then, a run to the semi-finals of the British Open and the quarter-finals of the Northern Ireland Open have reignited the 33-time ranking event winner’s enthusiasm.
Higgins made breaks of 86, 66 and 56 during today’s victory and now faces Iranian number one Hossein Vafaei.
Higgins said: “Ollie has had some great results this year. He beat Judd in Saudi and beat Mark Allen in Xi’an. They are two of the best players, so I’m sure I didn’t hold a lot of fear for him. But he didn’t play well at all today. He really struggled and I just picked up the pieces.
“As you get older it affects you a bit more. It is the same old grind. You are going to have difficult moments getting motivated. That is understandable. When you are actually out there you are trying so hard to win. My game is at a decent level, which is good.”
During his post match press duties, Higgins also commented on the recent difficulties of his beloved Celtic Football Club and revealed that interim manager Martin O’Neill is a massive Anthony McGill fan.
“We are a basket case just now but it is amazing seeing Martin O’Neill. He was the manager when I was younger and going to games more often. I had some great moments following his team,” said the four-time Crucible king.
“I’ve met him a couple of times and he is an absolute gentleman. He loves Anthony McGill! He always asks how young Anthony is. I think he’d been at the World Championship and Anthony was playing. It just so happened Anthony was walking out his dressing room and it was a surreal moment when Martin O’Neill was walking towards him. Anthony introduced his dad, who was a big Celtic fan, to him. Ever since then he took a massive shine to him. That is easily done as he’s a good boy.”
Shaun Murphy overcame a remarkable display from 14-year-old amateur Wang Xinzhong to prevail 6-5 and earn a clash with Elliot Slessor.
2005 World Champion Murphy described Wang, who is the brother of tour professional Wang Xinbo, as the future of snooker after the match.
A high quality match saw Wang compile two centuries on his way to leading 5-4. However, recently crowned British Open champion Murphy made breaks of 72 and 89 in the last two frames to emerge victorious.
Murphy said: “I’ve never seen anything like that. I was good at 14. Ronnie was good at 14, as were many others. I think that young man may well be the best 14-year-old I’ve ever seen. He has everything. I kept waiting for him to crack but he played like someone who has 20 titles and doesn’t have a care in the world. I think I’ve just seen the future of snooker. Unbelievable.
“I turned professional at 15 so I knew you couldn’t take any liberties with anybody. Especially someone who has beaten the Women’s World Champion and Robbie Williams. I missed two or three balls of any consequence in the whole match. I somehow found myself 5-4 down against someone playing snooker from the gods.”
World number two Kyren Wilson earned his progression with a 6-2 defeat of David Lilley. The Warrior top scored with 95 and plays Stephen Maguire next up.
Despite the time difference, he revealed he was still getting plenty of support from home from his wife, who is on the mend after struggling with her health and undergoing successful surgery.
“The first game in any tournament the first game is a potential banana skin. Obviously flying over to China the jet lag and time difference can play a big part. Surprisingly I felt quite fresh considering. David Lilley is a seasoned professional so that was a good 6-2 win there,” said 33-year-old Wilson.
“My brother Taylor (also manager) is living the dream and having a week off. It can be quite lonely when you are on your own. I have many friends in China now who take care of me and look after me. In terms of once we are here the hospitality side of things is fantastic. It is hard to walk out of the front door and say goodbye to family. Sophie actually Facetimed me just before I went on with a cup of tea. It is 1am back home but she got up to watch. That was quite nice.”
World number one Judd Trump sealed his progression with a 6-3 win over former Masters and UK Champion Matthew Stevens. His next opponent is Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham.
Ronnie O’Sullivan rallied from losing the first two frames for the second day in a row, this time claiming six on the trot to beat Sanderson Lam 6-2. He now faces a fascinating clash with last week’s Northern Ireland Open champion Jack Lisowski, who won 6-4 against Louis Heathcote.
Ding Junhui followed up a whitewash win in round one with a 6-1 defeat of Michael Holt, while World Champion Zhao Xintong beat Fan Zhengyi 6-3.
Here are the scores for Ronnie’s match:
After a slow start, Ronnie played quite well. He wasn’t at his best, but did enough and never looked in danger. The worrying thing though was that he looked concerned about his tip for most of the match and we know how obsessed he can become about such things. Hopefully he will have solved the “problem” – whatever that is – before tomorrow’s match. He will face Jack Lisowski who will certainly present a tougher challenge that Ronnie previous two opponents, no disrespect to them.
No mention in the above report about Ronnie’s post-match. From what I could gather from Weibo, he praised China, a beautiful country … and … ate an impressive number of bananas during the interview.
The following short videos were shared by TNT and WST respectively on YouTube
Ronnie O’Sullivan rallied from behind to beat relegation threatened Allan Taylor 6-5 at the International Championship in Nanjing.
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The Rocket maintains a 100% win rate over Taylor, who he made a 147 against at the 2018 English Open. He now leads the head-to-head 3-0.
However, this record appeared to be under threat when 40-year-old Taylor played some excellent snooker to lead 3-1 at the interval. He looked set to be moving further in front when he passed the snookers required mark in frame five, but after going in off he handed O’Sullivan a chance to counter. He cleared with 48 to steal on the black and make it 3-2.
Taylor refused to wilt though and moved 4-2 ahead, before a sensational blitz from seven-time Crucible king O’Sullivan. Breaks of 100, 119 and 129 moved him to the verge of victory at 5-4. Taylor showed his steel to force a decider, but yet another century break of 128 from O’Sullivan earned him a second round clash with Sanderson Lam.
The 41-time ranking event winner is still hunting a first ever International Championship crown. A fine showing for Taylor, but he needs to start accumulating wins with a projected season ending ranking of 76.
“I’m enjoying playing. It never feels like a grind when you are cueing well. I always think that if I am cueing good, then results don’t really matter. I’m enjoying playing more than I have done for maybe over a decade now,” said 49-year-old O’Sullivan.
“I would have been disappointed if I lost today. Not because Allan didn’t deserve to win, just more that I’m enjoying playing. I think when I play alright the crowd appreciate the shots and the break building. When I click into gear that raises the temperature in there a little bit.”
Bai Yulu made the highest ever break composed by a female player in professional snooker, but still bowed out 6-5 against 14-year-old amateur Wang Xinzhong. Bai made a stunning 145 in frame seven, but it was Chinese compatriot Wang who progressed.
World Champion Zhao Xintong top scored with 135 in a 6-1 demolition of Oliver Brown, while Thepchaiya Un-Nooh averaged just 15.9 seconds a shot in his 6-0 whitewash win over Xu Jiarui.
TNT shared some videos on YouTube:
I’m very happy that Ronnie won, although I quite like Allan Taylor as well. He’s a very funny guy, in the good meaning of the word funny, he has a great sense of humour and his impersonations of fellow players are highly amusing, very well observed and never nasty. He’s a born entertainer and I can’t imagine anyone not liking him.
Should Ronnie win tomorrow, his next opponent could be Jack Lisowski. If it happens we should see some fireworks … but it’s a shame that they are on course to meet at such an early stage of the competition.
Bai Yulu made a 145, the highest break ever by a woman in any competition, but she still lost the match.
Wang Xinzhong, Bai’s conqueror in round 1, is only 14 years old and he went on to beat Robbie Williams by 6-1 in round 2. He will now face Shaun Murphy…
Incredible venue for the Zhao Xintong and Ronnie O’Sullivan exhibition at the Wynn Hotel, Macau today.
Xintong won 4-2 which included two magnificent centuries.
The hospitality and welcome from the hotel was amazing
Congratulations Zhao!
I’m certain that it was played in good spirit. Ronnie always liked Zhao a lot from the very moment Zhao became a professional. He is of the opinion that Zhao plays the game the way it should be played, fearless, attacking and entertaining.
This being an exhibition, I won’t read too much into the result. The important thing is that Ronnie is in China and ready to play…
Big thanks also to Ben, who shared information about that exhibition as well in the comments section. Much appreciated.
Both players arrived in Nanjing today, with Victoria and went straight to the practice table
Ronnie O'Sullivan 