Match Reports from the 888.com World Championship
Rocket Resists
Ronnie O’Sullivan 4 – 4 John Higgins
Ronnie O’Sullivan fought back against John Higgins to finish a high-quality session all square.
The match pitched two of the game’s heavyweights against each other, and lived up to its billing as the tie of the round.
Higgins got off to a perfect start with a break of 91, only to see O’Sullivan respond with an equally fine 89 in the second frame.
Higgins, champion in 1998, capitalised on some careless safety from his opponent to take an untidy third frame. After an extended safety duel, the 31-year-old picked up the fourth frame to go 3-1 up with a break of 73.
After beating Neil Robertson in the previous round, O’Sullivan highlighted long potting and safety play as two areas of his game that needed improvement. In the opening frames he was still struggling with both aspects, and was second best.
After the interval Higgins began to miss some pots, allowing O’Sullivan some extended time at the table. Breaks of 54 and 65 in the fifth frame reduced his arrears to one, and the double world champion levelled the match with a 60 in the next.
After seeing his early lead evaporate, Higgins responded with a 110 – his fourth century of the tournament.
He created a chance to extend his lead with a superb long red in the final frame, but a miss let O’Sullivan back in. Despite not being quite at his best, this season’s Masters champion swooped with a 76 to finish the first session all square.
The second session is played this morning, with a possible nine frames scheduled for day 12’s evening session.
