Mark Williams holds a 5-3 lead over John Higgins – 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker Championship
Two-times world champion, Mark Williams, has ended his opening session with a commanding 5-3 lead over John Higgins in the best-of-thirty-three frames semi-final match of the 2011 Betfred.com World Snooker
Championship, which is being staged at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.
Though the current world number one, John Higgins, racked up two magnificent century breaks of 135 and 120, he ended his campaign trailing 5-3. However the current world’s number two, Williams, on the
same note produced an accomplishing performance to gain a two-frame overnight lead.
Opening frame was a scrappy affair and a dramatic one as well. It went on for 24 minutes, as both dug deep into the safety battle and missing easy chances. Though in the end Higgins did well to clear the
table, he missed the frame ball, pink and gifted the frame to his opponent.
Second frame was over within a blink of an eye, as the Wizard of Wishaw, Higgins, compiled a mind-boggling match-highest century break of 135 in it to level the things at 1-1. However the thirty-six-year-old
Welshman showed no reeling effects and took the following third and fourth on a bounce with a top break of 72 to lead 3-1.
Williams also got a good chance in the fifth frame, but this time he uncharacteristically played a poor safety shot which gifted his opponent a chance to come within one frame at 3-2. Higgins then levelled
the things at 3-3 in the following sixth with another superb century break of 120.
It looked as if Higgins is going to lead before the Welsh Potting Machine also bounced back into the game with modest breaks of 74 and 54 in the last two frames respectively to end the opening session
with a 5-3 lead in his favour.
"It's a test of everything," Higgins said. "It's a test of whether you can get your sleep at night. Your whole nervous system is in meltdown
for 17 days, it's just how you handle it. Experience only gets you so far, you've got to have ability to go with it. You look at Judd Trump who's got no experience here and he's blitzing everyone."
Willliams and Higgins will resume their play with the second session today at the Crucible Theatre.
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