Higgins enters semifinals

By Geet Sethi

SHEFFIELD, MAY 3. Exhibiting outstanding form, reflected by four centuries in the last 10 frames, John Higgins entered the semifinals of the 2001 Embassy World snooker championship with a convincing 13-6 victory over Ken Doherty. While Higgins will feature in 'the match of the tournament' against Mathew Stevens, who eliminated Stephen Hendry, the seven times winner of the tournament, Ronnie O'Sullivan will meet Irishman Joe Swail in the other semifinal. Swail survived a marathon 8-hour encounter against debutant Patrick Wallace in which he edged out his opponent 13-11.

It was a match, which had promised to throw up an entertaining and fiercely contested brand of snooker considering the recent successes of both cueists - Doherty came to Sheffield with victories in the Regal Welsh and Thailand Masters, while Higgins's success came in the UK Championship. Yet what we saw was a curious mix of superb form from the world no.2 and the collapse of the 1997 world champion Ken Doherty.

Doherty's explosive start, which saw him establish a 3-1 advantage with breaks of 114 & 91, seemed to suggest that the contest would be close. But Higgins taking control from the fifth frame ended the first session leading 5-3 with the help of two carefully compiled efforts of 72 & 98. ``I started well but finishing the session 5-3 down was disappointing,'' said Doherty later.

Indeed, the disappointment soon converted to frustration as the world no.7 saw himself facing a 10-6 deficit. Particularly disturbing was the loss of the sixteenth frame at a stage when he trailed 9-6. Doherty lead 47-12 but a 42 clearance from Higgins meant that he ended the second session trailing by four frames instead of two. It was a reversal, which played heavily on Doherty's mind. Higgins had given sufficient evidence of his form in that session with breaks of 110, 139 total clearance and a 113.

The heavy scoring by his opponent, the calmness with which Higgins went about the job and that loss of the crucial 16th frame were enough to put Doherty on the back foot. On the resumption on Wednesday evening, Doherty was clearly distracted, hesitant and his body language suggested that he had lost the battle in his mind. Higgins finished the formalities, a routine 105, his fourth century taking him to a satisfying 13-6 victory.

Higgins later said, ``I played well but just could not shake Ken off. He was a bit unlucky not to go 9-7 going into the third session. That was probably the clinching frame for me.'' Higgins will now feature in what is perhaps the most eagerly awaited match of the championship so far. Mathew Stevens, last years runner up has displayed devastating form in disposing off Stephen Hendry 13-5 and has lost only eleven frames in reaching the last 4 stage. Giving him glowing compliments Hendry said, `` Stevens's cue action is second to none, he will take some beating in the tournament''.

Joe Swail will meet Ronnie O'Sullivan in a match, which is being predicted to be one sided. Swail, who has survived two deciding frame encounters - 10-9 against Sean Storey and 13- 12 against defending champion Mark Williams, struggled to carve yet another hard earned 13-11 victory over compatriot Wallace, ranked 59. Clearly Swail seemed exhausted after undergoing two really tense matches. He had come from 8-3 down to record an unexpected victory over Williams, the world no.1. Against Wallace he once again trailed 6-2 at the conclusion of the first session, but made immediate amends by winning seven of the eight frames played in the second session to establish a 9-7 advantage.

The fact that they are childhood friends deeply affected both of them, especially in the opening session. ``We had a nice chat about it and both of us felt better after the opening session. It's a very delicate situation. We're two good friends who've known each other for a lifetime and are playing each other in a cutthroat snooker match. There is a lot of emotion involved.'' Swail commented.

Infact, the delicate position arose also from the fact that if Swail defeated Wallace, he would be shutting out his opponent's chance of coming into the top 32 in the world rankings. ``It's probably the toughest match I've had in my professional career because I had to put that at the back of my mind'' added Swail. The 32-year-old world no. 16, who has reached the semi-final for the second successive year, will look back on the 14th and 22nd frames with satisfaction. These were the crucial frames, which he clinched on the black with breaks of 53 and 56.

Against O'Sullivan, who has been compared to Mozart by his quarterfinal victim Peter Ebdon, Swail will need to try and replicate the melodious and timeless symphonies of Beethoven if he has to upstage one of the finest talents the game has ever seen.

Semifinal line-up: Swail vs O'Sullivan; Stevens vs Higgins.

* The results (quarterfinals best of 25 frames): John Higgins bt Ken Doherty 54-67, 58-47, 0-114(114), 0-95(91), 72(72)-18, 70-48, 99(98)-0, 62-17, 48-74(55), 111(110)-7, 42- 82(66), 139(139)-0, 110(56)-0, 47-63, 118(113)-1, 54-47, 63-53, 60-46, 105(105)-16.

Joe Swail bt Patrick Wallace 13-11 (21-86, 9-68, 70- 15, 8- 70(52), 90-19, 4-68(52), 6-77(65), 8-64, 69-24, 118(93)-5, 35- 85(72), 84(51)-15, 77-4, 75(53)-50, 64(50)-7, 90(66)-2, 28- 105(83), 72(56)-2, 31-65, 51-10, 37-70, 72(56)-51(51), 0-75, 80- 4).

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