John Higgins produced a superb performance to beat Kyren Wilson 4-2 in the last 16 of the World Grand Prix on Thursday in Hong Kong.
The Wizard of Wishaw compiled breaks of 143, 100, 92, and 74 as he orchestrated a magnificent display to oust the world champion at the Kai Tak Arena.
Buoyed by last week’s success at the World Open in Yushan that ended a four-year title drought in ranking events, Higgins once again looked like the competitive animal who captured four world crowns at the Crucible Theatre.
By reaching the last eight this week, Higgins has moved out in front as the player with the most appearances in the quarter-finals of ranking tournaments.
The 49 year-old edges in front of old rival Ronnie O’Sullivan, taking his career tally to a fitting number of 147.
“It’s a good record, isn’t it?” a delighted-looking John Higgins told Rob Walker for the World Snooker Tour.
“It’s a nice number to get to, especially in the context of that number in snooker. So yeah, it’s brilliant.”
“You need to produce that to beat someone like Kyren, because he’s beginning to have that little aura around him at the table.
“Even when I was watching him, he reminds me so much of a young John Parrott – a better version.
“I’m not being disrespectful to John Parrott, because he was an unbelievable player as well.
“But he just hits the ball with such authority, and he really believes he’s going to pot everything on that table, so it’s daunting to play.
“My game has to be up at the top to stand a chance of beating someone like that.
“I felt great today, I felt no pressure whatsoever. [Winning the World Open] was a big monkey off my back really, because I’d lost in some pretty heartbreaking finals.
“So to get that off my back, I’m coming now and just thinking that you’ve proved to yourself that you can do it at this age alongside the likes of Ronnie and Mark [Williams] – two guys I admire so much.
“It was a big win for me. You go through some dark times with drives home, flights home. You’re talking to yourself, thinking do you really need to do this?
“Do you really need to put yourself through this? But as I’ve always said, the competitive nature within yourself that’s got you to a certain level in this sport probably wouldn’t allow you to back down and drift away.
“That’s what has kept me driving on to taste that winner’s feeling again.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been in the right space to pick and choose events like some of the other boys.
“But I think this now will give me the scope to maybe not play in as many tournaments. I know I went on record before and said what else would I do?
“But with having that cushion that I’m going to have, you can pretty much be guaranteed [a top 16 spot], especially next year. It’s good to be able to maybe pick and choose.”
In the World Grand Prix quarter-finals, Higgins awaits the winner of the last-16 tie between Shaun Murphy and Barry Hawkins.
The remaining contenders for the title are chasing a top prize worth £180,000, staggering amounts of money only available to fans at Texas holdem and other online casino games.
Pre-tournament betting favourite Judd Trump is also through to the last eight, meanwhile, in addition to two other former world champions, Neil Robertson and Stuart Bingham.
Trump received a bye through to the next round after the withdrawal of scheduled opponent Jack Lisowski due to personal reasons.
Robertson and Bingham recorded respective triumphs over David Gilbert and Wu Yize.
The remaining second-round fixtures take place on Thursday, including the battle of former World Grand Prix champions between Murphy and Hawkins.
Mark Selby faces Jimmy Robertson, Hossein Vafaei meets Xu Si, and Xiao Guodong entertains Lei Peifan in the other games.
2025 World Grand Prix Draw
Round of 32
Judd Trump 4-2 Gary Wilson
Jack Lisowski 4-2 Zhang Anda
Hossein Vafaei 4-3 Si Jiahui
Xu Si 4-3 Ding Junhui
Stuart Bingham 4-2 Mark Williams
Wu Yize 4-0 Pang Junxu
Jimmy Robertson 4-2 Mark Allen
Mark Selby 4-3 Jackson Page
Xiao Guodong 4-3 Jak Jones
Lei Peifan 4-2 Elliot Slessor
David Gilbert 4-3 Chris Wakelin
Neil Robertson 4-0 Yuan Sijun
Barry Hawkins 4-1 Tom Ford
Shaun Murphy 4-3 Ben Woollaston
John Higgins 4-3 Ali Carter
Kyren Wilson 4-3 Matthew Selt
Round of 16 (bo7)
Matches to be played on Thursday, March 6th
Judd Trump w/o Jack Lisowski
Hossein Vafaei vs Xu Si
Stuart Bingham 4-2 Wu Yize
Jimmy Robertson vs Mark Selby
Xiao Guodong vs Lei Peifan
Neil Robertson 4-1 David Gilbert
Barry Hawkins vs Shaun Murphy
John Higgins 4-2 Kyren Wilson
Click here to see the latest scores and results
(snooker.org)
Featured photo credit: WST
