Match Reports from the 888.com World Snooker Championship
Homing Higgins
John Higgins 12 – 4 Fergal O’Brien
John Higgins played some outstanding snooker to hit two centuries and a 98 to home-in on a quarter-final spot.
The 1998 champion began the session watching Fergal O’Brien hit a confident 85. The first four frames were deservedly shared, with Higgins making a 98 in the 11th frame.
The first session was blighted by uneven bounce off the cushions, but the newly relaid tables gave the players little to complain about.
Returning from the interval 8-4 up, Higgins utterly dominated the rest of the session. O’Brien was powerless to prevent the avalanche, and scored a solitary point in four frames. In contrast, a prolific Higgins scored 415.
The 31-year-old was 9-4 ahead when he put together a brilliant 135 to tie for the highest break of the championship in the 14th frame.
A break of exactly 100 won the final frame of the night, to leave Higgins needing just one more to go through.
