Grand Prix Snooker is Global
Did you hear the one about the Welshman, Scotsman, Australian and Chinese fella? They all reached the semi finals of the Grand Prix in Glasgow!
Trying to pick a winner will not be easy out of the man in form, two returning to form and the player with a 100% record in ranking event finals.
Defending champion, world champion and local favourite, John Higgins destroyed Northern Ireland's Mark Allen on quarter final Friday, with a convincing five-frames-to-one win in a little over an hour and a half and will be confident of repeating last years win on home soil.
He takes on Aussie number one, Neil Robertson who has never lost in the final of ranking event with a 3 and 0 record. Despite losing the opening frame against good friend and practise partner, Joe Perry, "The Thunder from Down Under" won five in a row, including a brace of centuries to ease into the last four.
The second semi final will feature two players returning to their best form. It has been a while since either Mark Williams or Ding Junhui have been around on finals weekend.
Ding played steadily in his quarter against former world champion, Peter Ebdon. It was the Englishman who got off to the better start taking a two-nil advantage but China's number one levelled at the interval and took the next three frames with a highest break of 107.
Beware of the injured golfer, is a well know saying in the sport of clubs, and it may well apply to game of cues too. It is only weeks since Global-Snooker reported on Williams' slip resulting in a broken wrist. "The cast only came off two weeks ago, and when it did Andrew Pagett's arm was bigger than mine!" said the popular Welshman. Despite that though, he followed wins over Stuart Bingham and Stephen Hendry to see of the challenge of Glocester's Robert Milkins by five-frames-to-two.
Milkins, conqueror of Allister Carter and Mark King never really settled and it was like the Williams of old who cleared with 70 to pinch the seventh frame and claim his place in the semi final line up.
It is a tough one to call, the bookies have a Higgins versus Ding final lined but we are not so sure...watch this space!
