John Higgins versus Mark Williams: 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship Preview
The semi-final clash of 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship between John Higgins and Mark Williams will surely be a nail-biting encounter as both the players will go head-to-head
at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on Thursday, April 28. The pair has been sparking their cues magnificently in the event so far and have grabbed comprehensive victories to reach to the semi-final stage.
The world number one John Higgins is performing up to his standards during the championship. He made convincing wins in all three matches he played at the Crucible Theatre against Stephen
lee, Rory McLeod and the Rocket, Ronnie O’Sullivan.
In his first-round match he faced Stephen Lee of England and beat him with a convincing score-line of 10-5, firing some outstanding breaks of 56, 70, 132, 101, 131, 124, 74 and 81. He
couldn’t fire any major breaks in his second-round match, but he took care of McLeod with ease at 13-7.
Higgins’ next match was the most sensational encounter of the championship when he met the former triple champion, Ronnie O’Sullivan, in the quarter-final. Both the super-stars went shoulder-to-shoulder
in the first two sessions, but the 35-year-old Higgins took advantage of Ronnie’s mistakes and grabbed the victory with 13-10.
On the other hand, Mark Williams’ journey in the mega event is a bit better than that of Higgins as the Welsh potter played amazingly in the championship clinching easy wins over Ryan
Day, Jamie Cope and Mark Allen.
Since he lost in the first round of 2011 China Open despite his four centuries, the Welsh potting Machine, Williams has been unstoppable against his opponents. He crushed his compatriot,
Ryan Day, in the first round at 10-5 followed by a 13-4 easy triumph over Englishman Jamie Cope in the second round.
In his quarter-final clash, he faced Mark Allen, who had been suffering from depression for a year and got treated before the championship. The Ebbw Vale potter fired some extraordinary
knocks of 73, 125, 78, 66, 80, 80, 104, 113, 61 and 58 to nudge the Englishman down by 13-5.
Head-to-Head Statistics
The North Lanarkshire cueist, Higgins, has been in splendid form in the current season especially after he was banned from the world snooker after the 2010 world championship on the charges
of taking bribery.
He holds an astounding match winning record in the present season with 29 match wins out of 32 at 90.6 percent of match winning rate while his frame winning percentage is 62.1 with 182
frames out of 293.
Ad interim, Mark Williams had a brilliant season too with a couple of tournament wins. His match winning rate is 73.3 percent as he took 44 victories out of 60 and he possesses a 62.5
percent of frame winning ratio.
Prediction
The pair has gone head-to-head five times in the last two seasons with John Higgins leading over Mark Williams at 4-1. However, as far as the world championship is concerned, both have
faced each other two times, in 1999 and 2000, in the semi-final stage and both times Williams defeated Higgins with relative ease so that can be a plus point for Williams in the match.
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