Ding Junhui ends defending champion John Higgins’ run in Round 2: 2012 Welsh Open at Newport Centre
Welsh Open defending champion, Scotland’s John Higgins faced a major blow in the second round of 2012 Welsh Open snooker event when the World Number 10, China’s Ding Junhui triumphed over
him to end his hopes of claiming the title for the third consecutive time. Both potters had a tussling encounter and dragged the match into the decider frame where the Chinese was victorious by the score line of 4-3.
The Chinese Sensation played his natural game and came up to grab the win when he was trailing 2-3 down. Junhui is famous for his ability to spring up from dense situations where many
top potters lose their hopes to win the match. He displayed the same unique capability in the second-round encounter to oust the reigning World Snooker Champion 4-3.
The Wizard of Wishaw, on the other hand, played his safety game in the start of the match and soon pushed the Chinese one frame down at the conclusion of fifth frame. However, after that
the Scotsman was not able to make any scores because Junhui swept the table brilliantly in the next two frames and won the match by the score line of 4-3.
Speaking to World Snooker after winning his match, Junhui said, “I felt under pressure because John's safety is very good and he made it difficult for me. I made a good break in the last
frame and to beat him gives me a lot of confidence.”
Higgins, on the other hand added, “He got off to a good start, and after that I was struggling. I scrapped my way back into it and had a chance to win so it's really disappointing. You
only get out of the game what you put into it, so I really need to put the work in over the next couple of months to have a chance at the World Championship.”
The Star of the East, Junhui will next meet the winner of second-round clash between Stephen Lee and Tom Ford in the quarter-finals. Both Lee and Ford will go head-to-head on Thursday,
February 16 at the Newport Centre arena in Newport.
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