The 2021 Snooker "Champions of Champions" Invitational Tournament ended the last 1/4 final in Bolton, England in the early morning of November 19, Beijing time, and John Higgins defeated old rival Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-1 to catch the "last train" of the final four.
In Thursday's fixtures, six-time world champion O'Sullivan first beat Stuart Bingham 4-2 with a single shot of 58, 95, 57 and 50 points; the second first round of the match, 31-time ranking champion Higgins won three straight sets to reverse Ding Junhui with the rockets who are also "753 masters".
In the quarter-finals, which began at 3 a.m., Higgins scored a single shot of 86 and 92 points to quickly take a 2-0 lead; O'Sullivan immediately scored the only shot of the tournament to break the hundred, and scored 101 points to chase back the set. With this break, O'Sullivan also pushed his career record of 100 to 1119. In the final set before halftime, Higgins scored the last black ball to win 63-57, 3-1.
In the second half, four-time world champion Higgins scored consecutive high scores, first playing a single 127-point breaker, then playing a single 94 points and 63 points to end perfectly, and finally the score was fixed at 6-1. Higgins will face Yan Bingtao in the second semi-final at 3am on Sunday.
"It was a night of mine." Higgins said, "The fourth inning was crucial, we had won three straight sets, but the one I took back was particularly important to take a 3-1 lead. I really didn't make any mistakes after half-time and didn't leave him (O'Sullivan) too many chances. Although he had two mistakes that he would not normally make. I'm very happy with my performance. ”
For the next Masters final "second battle", Higgins looked forward: "Yan Bingtao is an excellent young man, an excellent champion, he has won some major events. I'm a little confident in my form and hopefully I can play a good game with him on Saturday night. I was probably too harsh on myself after the last final, and I still had doubts deep down about winning the weekend. I want to give myself a chance this week. ”
Higgins, who won the title of "Crown of Champions" in 2016, said: "It's fantastic to win this tournament, the lineup of the tournament is the top of the top players. If you can win an event like this, it's definitely an important part of your career. ”
The two semi-finals will be played at 3:00 a.m. Beijing time on Saturday on the 20th and Sunday on the 21st, with the first being a contest between Karen Wilson and Judd Trump, and the second being between John Higgins and Yan Bingtao, with 6 wins in 11 sets.