John Higgins beats Nigel Bond in first round: China Open 2011
World number one John Higgins crushed Nigel Bond 5-3 in the first round of the Bank of Beijing China Open 2011 on Wednesday, 30th March. The Scottish showed some excellent snooker skills to dump the English cueman easily after the interval. The
former world champion will next face Ricky Walden in the second round at the Peking University Students Gymnasium in Beijing.
Higgins, a three-time World Snooker Championship winner, started off the run brilliantly. He grabbed the very first frame 82-46 after hitting a couple of decent small breaks to lead 1-0 early in the game. Englishman Nigel Bond moved along impressively as
he levelled the game at 1-1. He clinched the second frame 50-64 despite a rattling 49 break from the current Welsh Open champion Higgins.
A stunning century break of 138 from the Snooker Shoot-Out 2011 winner Bond brought him 1-2 up. The 45-year-old took the frame 0-138 in one break. Soon the game score was level at 2-2 by the Wizard of Wishaw. He pocketed a brilliant clearance of 76 to grab
the scrappy fourth frame 93-21.
After the interval, Bond snatched the fifth frame 7-70, smashing a beautiful 46 break to take a one-frame lead at 3-2. The fifth frame was Bond’s last successful one of the evening, as Higgins stole the next three frames quite easily.
John Higgins, turning 36 in May, grabbed the sixth frame 67-9 with a decent break of 47 to level the game. The Scotsman struck again in the next as he cued another impressive clearance of 43 and led the game 4-3. Two decent breaks of 41 and 31 from Higgins,
winner of 23 ranking titles, brought him at the brink of a sensational victory. He added a winning break of 11 to the frame score of 72-56 and won the frame 83-56.
Higgins has now set up a clash with Ricky Walden on Thursday, 31st March in the evening session. Walden cruised into the second round after beating Martin Gould 5-4. The match ended in a decider frame after a thrilling display of potting skills
from both cuemen. The whole competition seemed a topsy-turvy affair as both players tussled for the second-round spot.
The Rocket, Ronnie O’Sullivan, faced another first-round exit on Wednesday at the hands of Ryan Day. Day was the man who defeated him 4-2 in the first round of Welsh Open 2011. After his first-round defeat at the Peking University Students Gymnasium in Beijing,
O’Sullivan has once again hinted at his retirement. He said that he is not comfortable with his performance.
He was disappointed about his performance. He has threatened to retire three times before; in January 2009 when he lost to Stephen Hendry in the UK Championship, in April 2010 when he crashed out of the Crucible quarter-final and in September 2010 over a
controversial 147 break.
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