World Championship Day 4

Andrew Higginson caused anothe Crucible surprise as he
knocked out Stephen Lee (picture World Snooker)

Qualifier Andrew Higginson knocked another seeded played, Stephen Lee, out of the World Championship, with a 10-6 scoreline. Lee, the recent winner of the PTC Grand Finals, trailed 5-4 after Monday’s session and the two shared the first four session of the concluding session so Higginson led 7-6 at the interval. A break of 111 gave the Widnes man a two frame lead and he was able to take the next two to set up a tie against Jamie Jones in the next round.

Ronnie O’Sullivan also finished what he’d started by beating Peter Ebdon 10-4. The Rocket was 7-2 ahead after the first session and despite Ebdon winning a few frames at the start of the second session, O’Sullivan secured the three frames he needed to secure his spot in the last 16.

For the second time in two days, it appeared a crucible whitewash could be about to happen as Joe Perry won the first eight frames against an out-of-sorts Graeme Dott. However the Scot managed to win the last frame of the session to ensure he avoided the embarrassment but is highly unlikely to pull back the deficit tomorrow. Judd Trump struggled in his match with Dominic Dale but it was understandable considering he had been suffering the effect of food poisoning. The Bristolian though would have been delighted to finish the session 5-4 ahead but Dale would have been unimpressed not to have made more of an advantage over the ill Trump.

Ryan Day leads Ding Junhui 5-4 after their first session with the Welshman playing some excellent snooker. Finally, during the evening session, Barry Hawkins raced to a 6-3 lead over Mark Selby. Hawkins was 3-1 up at the interval but Selby, who is struggling with a back injury, won the next two to make it all square. However Hawkins won the final three frames of the session to give himself a cushion before the final session tomorrow evening.