Ding tops Higgins to make last 8
Print Edition
CHINA’S Ding Junhui moved into the quarterfinals of the world championships for just the third time after battling back to defeat John Higgins 13-9 in Sheffield, England, yesterday.
World No. 3 Ding, beaten six times in the opening two rounds of the tournament since his debut in 2007, trailed 1-5 and 5-7, but eventually saw off the four-time world champion to book a last eight clash against Judd Trump or fellow Chinese from Hong Kong Marco Fu.
The 28-year-old has been based in Sheffield for the last decade but the Crucible Theatre has rarely seen his best performances, with Ding’s only semifinal appearance coming in 2011 when he lost to Trump.
Last season Ding won a record-equalling five ranking titles to extend his career haul to 11, but this has been a barren campaign for the leading light of Asian snooker.
When Higgins opened up his substantial leads over Ding, it seemed the champion of 1998, 2007, 2009 and 2011 would condemn the Chinese star to more Crucible misery. But instead Ding struck back and he led 9-7 heading into the final session, nudging closer to the winning line with breaks of 63 and 89.
Higgins held up Ding’s triumph by pinching a tight frame to close to 12-9, but he missed a key brown in the next, when trailing by 28 points.
That put Ding in control of his destiny. When Ding dropped in the penultimate red, he held a 44-point cushion, with 35 left on the table. Misfortune struck as Ding glided off the last red when escaping from a snooker and the white fell into the yellow pocket.
Higgins had a free ball, with the red hidden by the brown, and Higgins knew he would close to 12-10 should he clear the table. But he missed a testing pink off the remaining red and Ding was soon celebrating his first quarterfinal appearance in Sheffield since 2013.
On Friday, title holder Mark Selby of England was handed a shock 9-13 defeat by qualifier Anthony McGill.
The Scot will next meet 2005 champion Shaun Murphy or Joe Perry.
Selby’s defeat continued the so-called ‘Crucible Curse’. No first-time champion has ever made a successful defense of his title.
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