Flawless John Higgins blows Kyren Wilson away in first session of second round World Snooker Championship match
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Updated 23/04/2023 at 12:35 GMT
Kyren Wilson was blown away by a flawless John Higgins in the first session of their World Snooker Championship second round match. The 47-year-old made three century breaks and three more over 50 as he raced into an almost unassailable 8-0 lead over The Warrior. Higgins is bidding to make a 17th quarter-final appearance at the Crucible and is very well placed to do so.
'What a start!' - Higgins hits 167th Crucible ton in style to open match against Wilson
John Higgins was in mesmerising form as he built an almost unassailable 8-0 lead over Kyren Wilson during the first session of the World Snooker Championship second round match.
Forty-seven year-old Higgins rolled back the years with some sublime cueing as he knocked in back-to-back century breaks in an electric start. That set the tone for a one-sided morning of snooker, with Higgins producing the best performance of his season to take the next six frames.
Bidding for a 17th quarter-final appearance at the Crucible, Higgins was determined to make an early statement, getting in with a long red and proving clinical with a fantastic clearance of 136 – his 40th century of the season - to ensure the match started with a high standard.
With Ronnie O’Sullivan wrapping up an emphatic victory over Hossein Vafaei with a session to spare on Saturday, Higgins and Wilson had the Crucible to themselves and the former was determined to put on a show, making a total clearance of 137 to move 2-0 ahead in rapid fashion after a mistake from Wilson.
Wilson has been in fine form coming into the World Championship – and set the tournament alight with only the 13th maximum 147 in Crucible history - but under pressure from the start of this session, he was made to pay for missing a couple of opportunities in the third frame as Higgins claimed a third successive frame - although he did make hard work of it. Leading 63-15, he missed a black to the middle pocket but with Wilson requiring two snookers he only managed one and his opponent saw the job through.
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'He looks a million dollars today out there!' - Higgins notches second century in a row
In what can only be described as a devastating display, Higgins raced into a 4-0 lead at the interval, leaving Wilson with a stony-faced expression. He missed out on a century, ending with a credible 77, but there were some pressure shots involved and the Scot - now oozing with confidence - was making it look easy.
Wilson would have been hoping the 15-minute interval break would bring a halt to Higgins' momentum, and while frame five was a much closer, scrappier affair, it was the four-time champion who eventually emerged victorious to surge into a 5-0 lead.
The Warrior looked favourite to finally get on the board in the sixth frame with a number of confidence-boosting shots only to lose control of the cue ball via the pink as it flew into the bottom left pocket. It was a serious hands-on-head moment and Higgins took full advantage, clearing up to pull off a dramatic, heart-breaking steal.
To move 7-0 up, Higgins methodically moved from pot to pot, despatching simple red and black combos before showing tremendous faith in himself to knock in trickier shots. The spread of balls wasn’t perfect by any means, but he made it work with strong control of his cue ball and a third century of the session earned deserving applause before a 134 clearance had the crowd on their feet.
In the final frame of the session, Higgins punished a poor mistake from his opponent to bite back from a 24-point deficit and clear up to the final red with a break of 80.
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