John Higgins scored a hard fought 4-2 win over Lyu Haotian to remain in contention to win his home event, the BetVictor Scottish Open, for the first time at the Meadowbank Sports Centre in Edinburgh.
The four-time World Champion made Scottish Open finals in 2016 and 2021, but was defeated on both occasions by Marco Fu and Luca Brecel respectively. He now faces Tom Ford in the last eight after he booked his place with a 4-2 defeat of Martin O’Donnell.
Higgins is seeking a first piece of ranking silverware since the 2021 Players Championship. In the time since that tournament, the legendary Scot made finals at four ranking events and the Champion of Champions, but is yet to add to his 31 career ranking titles.
It was China’s Lyu who got up and running with a break of 89 to take the opener this evening. Higgins responded with two on the bounce to take the lead, but a run of 91 saw Lyu square things up at 2-2. Higgins crucially fluked the last red in the fifth, leaving himself a treacherous green across the nap with the white in the jaws. He potted it and cleared to move one from the win. A break of 51 in the sixth gave Higgins control and he got over the line to book his last eight berth.
“I’m delighted with winning tonight. I didn’t play my best and neither did Lyu. It is nice to get through and I will try to get ready for tomorrow now,” said 48-year-old Higgins.
“It’s not enjoyable when you aren’t playing great, but I’m playing in front of a lot of the fans that are supporting the Scottish boys to try and do well. I’m just trying to give that little bit extra out there. Luckily so far I’ve managed to do that this week.
“I’ve lost a couple of Scottish Open finals so it would mean a great deal to win. I’m not counting my chickens at all. I’ve got a really tough game in the next round, so I’ll just get ready for that.”
Defending champion Gary Wilson continued his campaign with a 4-1 win over Malaysia’s Rory Thor to make the quarter-finals. The Wallsend cueman crafted breaks of 87, 88, 80 and 89 on his way to victory, with two maximum opportunities among those frames. He now plays former Shoot Out champion Chris Wakelin, who defeated Kyren Wilson 4-2.
Noppon Saengkham defeated Matthew Selt 4-3 to make the quarters and will face Sanderson Lam, who beat Anthony McGill 4-1 to reach the last eight of a ranking event for the first time.
Stuart Bingham put on a sublime display to whitewash an in form Zhang Anda 4-0. Bingham crafted runs of 119, 68, 65 and 89 en route to victory. Next up the Basildon cueman plays Zhou Yuelong, who beat Dominic Dale 4-0. Bingham must win to make the top 32 in the one-year list and earn a place at the World Grand Prix.
