With the world’s top players on show at the Masters, there’s another quarter final line-up which will excite fans of snooker.
Higgins beats resurgent Stevens
Former two-time winner of this event John Higgins took on twice Crucible finalist Matthew Stevens who was back amongst the world’s elite players after a lengthy spell in the doldrums. Early on the Scot and the Welshman went toe-to-toe. Higgins took the opener, making 90, but two excellent long pots in frame two allowed Stevens to level.
It was after a promising start that the Welsh player’s lack of recent big match experience began to tell. Higgins took the next two to lead 3-1 at the interval. Stevens rallied after the break, however, and despite being placed in some impressive snookers by his opponent, he reduced the deficit to 3-2.
That would be the last frame the Welshman would win, though Higgins rather limped over the line needing a fluke red and three attempts in frame eight to win 6-2. The Scot was nothing more impressive than solid here, though it was a welcome sight to see Stevens back at snooker’s top table.
Thunder Down Under silences the Pistol
Neil Robertson meeting Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen was for me the tie of the first round when the draw was made. The Australian triumphed in this topsy-turvy encounter 6-3. Robertson took the lead with a break of 74, but Allen responded with knocks of 88 and 124 to come from behind.
Robertson won frame four to draw level after a tactical battle, leaving nothing between the players at the mid-session interval. It became rather scrappy when they came back with neither seemingly able to get a grasp on the match. After six frames it was three apiece.
The Thunder Down Under found some form and closed out the match with three on the spin, including a century break. Neither player was particularly impressive here either, and Allen admitted to losing interest, perhaps crucially after frame eight in which he led before Robertson cleared up.
Selby overcomes Lee
The World Number One survived a late fight back from Stephen Lee to book his place in the quarter finals. The Jester from Leicester looked like he was going to whitewash his fellow Englishman, taking all the frames before the break including a century in the fourth. Selby’s opponent dug deep and got it back to 5-4, but in the end he closed out the match with a 71.
Dott defeats Carter
A vintage gritty performance from the Pocket Dynamo saw him negotiate his first round test against Ali Carter. With the score level at the interval, Graeme Dott took four of the next five to get over the line. There was a lack of big breaks here and another defeat for Carter will only see him fall out of love with the game further.
Quarter final line-up
With all eight first round matches now complete, here’s the last eight draw. Judd Trump will meet Ronnie O’Sullivan, the man who dumped out the defending champion Ding Junhui. Dott faces Higgins in an all-Scotland tie, Robertson clashes with Mark Williams and Selby takes on Shaun Murphy.
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