'Quite incredible!' - John Higgins nearly makes 167 break despite spectators walking around during break

Updated 04/03/2024 at 22:24 GMT

For a moment it seemed that we were about to witness history as John Higgins came close to becoming the first player to ever land a 167 break. Higgins had to put up with distractions from the crowd but ultimately fell just short when he lost positioning with the white as he was on the yellow. Snooker fans will have to wait a bit longer for that milestone to be reached.

Higgins misses out on 167 in dramatic fashion!

John Higgins nearly made history on Monday on the first day of the Riyadh Season Snooker Masters during his second round clash with Mark Williams.

Higgins started the opening frame in fine mettle and was quickly in the reds and a 147 was on the cards.

Of course, because this was in the Riyadh Season Snooker Masters that meant that the golden ball was in play, meaning that Higgins had the chance to become the first player ever to land a 167, with the golden ball worth an additional 20 points.

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Higgins had to put up with a few distractions during his break, most notably when some spectators were walking around whilst he was trying to line-up a shot.

This was before the penultimate black and Higgins, who must be used to the utmost silence in such a situation, was laughing, clearly bemused at what was happening at such a pivotal moment.

Nevertheless he kept his concentration to land a tricky black but heartbreak soon followed when the white finished just next to the yellow. It wasn't a touching ball situation but Higgins had a near-impossible shot to make to continue the break and he was unable to do so.

The wait goes on for the first player to reach the 167 mark and pot the golden ball.

Higgins' sparkling form continued off the back of his demolition of wild card Ali Alobaidli on Monday afternoon.

He dispatched Alobaidli in a preliminary round whitewash, where after starting the contest relatively slowly, grew into the match and finished strongly with breaks of 52, 117 and 80 to set up the clash with Williams.

The Scot was well warmed up coming into the match, while Williams - involved in his first tie of the tournament against Higgins - only managed one shot in the opener which was the break to start the match, as Higgins bid to become the first player to sink the golden ball in his first visit.

The pair are battling for a place in the quarter-final and will wrap up the first day of action in Riyadh, which saw Ali Carter edge past Ding Junhui.

Carter played the winner of Ding’s 4-0 hammering of wild card Omar Alajlani and will take on current world champion Luca Brecel in the last eight.

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