Champion of Champions 2023: John Higgins ‘can’t play better’ after hammering Ding Junhui 6-1 to reach semi-finals

John Higgins claimed he was at the top of his game as he hammered Ding Junhui 6-1 to reach the semi-finals of snooker’s Champion of Champions event in Bolton.

The ‘Wizard of Wishaw’ completed the victory in less than two hours, sealing each frame with a break of at least 80.

He will now face Mark Allen for a place in the final, which takes place over two seasons on Sunday.

“I can’t play any better than that,” said the 2016 winner. “I’ve had six 80-odd breaks. It was good and I really enjoyed it.

“Sometimes you’re out there in front of a big crowd and you can go into a shell a little bit, but I felt good out there tonight. I can’t wait to come out there on Saturday.

“We always have great matches, me and Mark Allen. We’ve not played a lot as professionals, but every time we’ve played, we’ve always seemed to have really high-quality games.

“Last we played each other, he managed to pip me in the Northern Ireland Open final 9-8, so I suppose I mainly owe him one back.”

It was a high-scoring night in Bolton, where Higgins took the first frame thanks to a break of 96, compiled thanks to 12 reds and 12 blacks.

“It was a really good chance of a maximum in the first frame,” continued the Scot. “It seemed too easy, and I took my eye off a couple of positional shots and I paid the price.”

After falling short in his 147 attempt, the four-time world champion then found himself level as Ding responded with a century.

That was as good as it got for the Chinese star, though, as Higgins took the next five frames in a row thanks to scores of 83, 80, 93, 86 and 82.

It was a tough night for Ding, who was returning to the baize only a couple of hours after completing a nervy 4-3 victory over Zhang Anda to reach the quarter-finals.

The action continues on Thursday, when Judd Trump takes on Baipat Siripaporn in the last-16, while Shaun Murphy faces Gary Wilson.

The two winners will face each other, for the right to take on Barry Hawkins in the semi-finals.