‘Not feeling comfortable out there’ – O’Sullivan returns to table despite needing 20 snookers
John Higgins moved into the quarter-final of the Champion of Champions with a 4-0 whitewash win over Northern Ireland Open finalist Chris Wakelin.
The 2016 winner was far from his best – but he didn’t have to be to overcome a below-par Wakelin, who had an afternoon to forget in Bolton.
Higgins will play the winner of Ding Junhui and Zhang Anda on Wednesday evening.
The Wizard of Wishaw wasted little time in securing the opening frame with a fine break of 70 after the veteran sent out a message of his confidence with a brave long blue. And although he failed to seal the frame on this visit, he was relieved to see a miscue from his opponent – a moment that would ultimately set the tone for Wakelin’s afternoon.
The second frame was a scrappy affair, but it was Higgins who prevailed after some wastefulness from both men. The most glaring miss came from Wakelin on a pink to the middle pocket, and once Higgins got his nose in front, he took complete control with another stunning long pot to put the frame out of reach.
Wakelin – who recently lost out to Judd Trump in the final of the Northern Ireland Open in Belfast – needed the third frame to stand any chance in the match, but the signs were ominous when Higgins came out on top after a safety battle. The Scot wasn’t exactly firing on all cylinders as demonstrated by running out of position on a pink, but Wakelin was in no mood to take advantage as Higgins moved to within a frame of victory.
The writing was on the wall as Higgins got back amongst the balls with a break of 54, and another couple of visits from the 48-year-old left Wakelin requiring snookers. Alas, he wasn’t able to make a fight of it as Higgins marched into the last eight having barely broken sweat.
Reflecting on his win with ITV, Higgins felt the pink Wakelin missed in the second frame “unsettled him”.
“And then things went from bad to worse, he was getting the bad flicks,” Higgins continued.
“In a best to seven match, that can be the difference. I’m delighted to win but I need to play better.”
On his overall form, Higgins said: “I feel good about in and about the balls, it’s just really that I’m a little short here and there that’s catching me out, maybe positionally wise. But I played pretty solid.
“It’s funny, you get a little bit excited about some of your form and then you might run into a match. That’s just the way it is when you get a little bit older, you might have a few more bad days than good. I don’t know.”
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