John Higgins beats Hossein Vafaei, sets up Mark Selby showdown in Champion of Champions evening session
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Updated 31/10/2022 at 16:53 GMT
The Champion of Champions tournament opened with a comfortable victory for former world No. 1 Mark Selby against Lee Walker. Selby was in control throughout against the World Seniors champion and will meet John Higgins in the group final in the evening after he beat Hossein Vafaei. Neil Robertson, Judd Trump and Ronnie O'Sullivan play their first matches later in the week.
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John Higgins defeated Hossein Vafaei 4-2 in the Champion of Champions on Monday afternoon to set up a group final with Mark Selby.
Vafaei got off to a great start in his Champion of Champions debut, having qualified for the competition by winning the Shoot-out.
Seeking his first-ever win over Higgins, the Iranian put together a run of 84 to take the opening frame.
But the four-time world champion bounced back in style, pouncing on an error in the second to race into a lead that left Vafaei requiring two snookers and ultimately cost him the frame.
Higgins then produced a break of 70 to take the lead in the third and go two frames from victory in the best-of-seven clash.
The Scottish former world No. 1 then repeated a similar trick, needing more than one trip to the table in the fourth frame but scoring 71 to go two clear, one away from victory.
Vafaei kept himself in the match-up when he struck a super break of 72 with Higgins rooted to his spot.
Higgins then hit his first and only century of the match with a less-than-fluent effort, with the occasional ball rattling the jaws of the pocket on the way to a confidence-boosting 118 break.
Speaking after his win, Higgins admitted he was struggling with his form in the tournament.
"Still running out of position a few times," he acknowledged. "Deep down I’m feeling OK about my game, I need to dig deep against Mark Selby, a game I always enjoy playing.
"I’ve shared world finals twice with Mark so you can’t get any bigger occasion than that. He’s been one of the top four for a decade, so you always need to play well."
Selby eased through his opening match at the Champion of Champions with a 4-0 win over Lee Walker.
Walker, who qualified for the event by winning the World Seniors and is likely making his final professional appearance before turning to coaching, proved no match for four-time world champion Selby.
Selby knocked in breaks of 82 and 88 as he won in just 68 minutes.
It was impressive, said seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry on ITV.
The first frame got away from Lee Walker, he had a great chance, but after that it was all about Mark Selby, it was dominant.
Selby has never won the Champion of Champions but enjoyed a smooth start against Walker.
He took a tight opening frame after Walker screwed in the white after potting the yellow.
Selby cleaned up and followed with an eight-minute 82 break in the next frame to move further ahead.
The former world No. 1 continued to look in good touch as he won the third frame 77-6.
Walker made a positive start to the fourth frame with a long red but then missed a red into the top corner when 16-0 ahead.
Selby didn't immediately take the opening but got back to the table and secured victory with an 88 break.
Neil Robertson plays his opening match on Tuesday while Judd Trump is in action on Wednesday and Ronnie O'Sullivan plays his first match on Thursday.
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