John Higgins vs. Stephen Maguire: Scottish Professional Championship 2011 – Semi-final preview
World Number One, John Higgins, is set to meet veteran and record seven-time World Snooker champion, Stephen Hendry, in their semi-final clash of the Scottish Professional Championship
2011 at the Lucky Break Snooker Club in Clydebank, Glasgow, on Wednesday, April 13, 2011.
The top-four Scottish professionals in the international tour, John Higgins, Stephen Hendry, Graeme Dott and Stephen Maguire, were seeded top at the quarter-final stage.
The 35-year-old Higgins had to beat fellow countryman, Jamie Burnett, to grab the semi-final spot against Hendry. He secured a convincing victory over Burnett, with a 5-1 frame score.
Higgins took a 1-0 early lead in the match-up but soon Burnett made it 1-1, as he outplayed his compatriot in the second frame. However, a few mistakes in the third frame cost him a frame loss and he went one frame down to Higgins.
Former three-time world champion, Higgins, took control over the game after he led 2-1. He clinched the match victory with a couple of impressive breaks of 87 and 47, to book his place
in the semi-final clash.
John Higgins has been performing brilliantly in the season, specially when he came back after his father’s death. He clinched the Welsh Open 2011 title superbly, but crashed out of the
China Open. According to statistics, Higgins’ match winning rate of
89.7 percent is the highest among all snooker players in the current season, along with a 62.1 percent
of frame winning rate.
On the other hand, veteran Stephen Hendry faced Alan McManus in his quarter-final match. The 42-year-old beat McManus 5-2 with relative ease. Both snooker stars tussled in the early frames
before the interval to grab the lead, but Hendry nudged his compatriot 3-1 down at the end of the first session of the game, with the help of a century break of 113.
Though McManus made a few mistakes during the match, but somehow he managed to bounce back and capitalise with a fifth frame win. Hendry did not let his opponent to take control of the
game after the fifth frame and clinched victory with a superb break of 95 to surge into the semi-final clash.
Hendry’s form in the season has not been up to expectations, as his match winning percentage is only 37.5 percent, while he holds a 47.9 percent record of frame wins. Despite his weak
statistics, there is a lot of experience behind his cue stick that can be quite challenging for Higgins.
The cueman from North Lanarkshire, John Higgins, thinks that this match would be a great opportunity to prepare himself perfectly for the upcoming mega event of Betfred.com World Snooker
Championship 2011 at the Crucible Theatre. On the other hand, Hendry also takes it as a good practice before the showdown in Sheffield this week.
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