Both John Higgins and Michael Holt tasted success today as they sent their opponent’s home from the Evergrande China Championship.
Some of the players earlier today and yesterday complained that the conditions were not as good as the previous events but i doubt Higgins and Holt will be making complaints.
The match between 4 time World champion John Higgins and twice world champion Mark Williams was always going to be an epic battle that brought memories back from the past.
Some may argue that John Higgins has gone past his best as he is now in his 40’s but every so often we see glimpses of the brilliance he possesses. Today was one of those days where he brought us down memory lane to when he was at his best. Whatmore, Mark Williams also gave us a display of his previous greatness in this epic match.
Sure – there were no centuries made, but every frame had a 50+ break except for one. It was John Higgins that played that bit better and with all his frames won with 60+ breaks it was no wonder he went on to win 6-4.
On the other table Neil Robertson was up against Michael Holt who has started making a name for himself recently. Robertsons form hasn’t been all that good recently and today proved to be the same.
It was a game of cat and mouse all the way through the match. As one player went a frame ahead the other levelled up in the next. It was like that all the way to the final frame at 5-5.
In the final frame Robertson was given chances by Holt but he failed to capitalize and so Michael Holt made a match winning contribution of 74 to reach the quarter finals. This is the second big win for Holt in as many weeks as he defeated Ronnie O’Sullivan for the third time this year just last week at the International Championships.
Can Holt take this win and propel himself further?