Higginson Bounces Back
Andrew Higginson put the disappointment of failing to reach the final stages of this year’s Betfred.com world championship by beating Jack Lisowski in the opening round of the Party Casino PTC Grand Finals at the Helix in Dublin.
Higginson, who lost to Andrew Pagett in the final qualifying round last week, opened with a 128 break to shake any hangover effects.
Lisowski showed why he is tipped for future stardom by levelling at one apiece after Higginson had made an early 57 break.
That was all the Gloucester player would get out of the match as Higginson went ahead in the next taking the frame on the colours.
Frame four was more comfortable to leave the former Welsh Open finalist one from victory.
He wrapped up the win in the next by taking the last red and the colours to the pink and put himself into the last 16 where he will face number two seed, Mark Selby.
Elsewhere, Martin Gould eased past Welsh youngster, Jamie Jones by four-frames-to-nil including a 106 break in the third.
And in the afternoon match, 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy won a scrappy encounter with former Shanghai Master, Ricky Walden by four-frames-to-two.
The match started well, Murphy opening with a break of 56 only for Walden to respond with a 55 of his own before taking the colours to lead one-nil.
Murphy took the next with a 41 before Walden looked likely to regain the lead in the third. An early break of 54 was not enough though and Murphy turned the tables and snatched the lead on the black.
The number one seed then added the fourth and appeared on his way to the quarter-finals.
A tactical fifth frame eluded Murphy though, and after missing a tough brown along the cushion, the match should have gone the distance.
A careless positional shot from brown to blue cost the Flintshire man dearly as he missed the more difficult blue allowing Murphy to take the win and await the winner of the match between Mark Davis and Stephen Lee for a place in the last four.
