00:00We're ready to go then. Two former winners of this tournament going head-to-head.
00:05John Higgins in 2021, Neil Robertson the following year.
00:17And the overall head-to-head favours Robertson, but only narrowly.
00:2111 wins to 8. Their most recent meeting coming at the Champion of Champions
00:27at the back end of last year, which was a 6-4 win for Robertson.
00:31They also played in last year's Masters, which was a dramatic match.
00:36John Higgins led 5-1, and Robertson won the last five frames to Pip Higgins to the post,
00:43having only got into the tournament because of Ronnie O'Sullivan's withdrawal.
00:47So that was a memorable one.
00:59And there are no strangers to meeting in finals either, in fact.
01:03Neil Robertson has won three title matches between them.
01:06Most notoriously, another huge comeback.
01:09The Tour Championship 2022 from 9-4 down to win 10-9.
01:17That was during a period where John Higgins was struggling to cross the line
01:20in ranking event finals, but of course he won a couple last season.
01:28A wonderful venue here in Telford.
01:31Big crowd on the first day.
01:34I'm sure that will remain the case throughout this event.
01:38The very best in the world doing battle.
01:41And of course, for some of the players this week,
01:44they'll also be looking to secure a position in that Tour Championship,
01:49which is for the top 12 on the one-year list.
01:52Both of these players will certainly want to be there.
01:57Robertson certainly will be.
02:02He is out on his own as number one this season,
02:06principally because of that Saudi Arabia title.
02:09John Higgins has work to do.
02:12The cut-off for that event, by the way, is the World Open,
02:15which is coming up in March.
02:18Before that, of course, we've got the final leg
02:20of the Home Nations series next week.
02:24That's the Welsh Open, a typically good safety from Higgins.
02:47Robertson can play the safety game, of course,
02:49but his primary strengths are potting and break-building.
02:54And if he's going to win today, you would think that's the game he needs to be playing.
02:59It's very difficult to out-safety John Higgins.
03:06Along with Mark Selby, probably the best two tactical players we've ever seen.
03:11John Higgins.
03:14Fails to connect with the Red.
03:15By the way, Mark Selby is in action this evening.
03:17That'll be our feature on table one from 7 o'clock UK time.
03:20He plays Jack Lazowski, who won the Scottish Open this season
03:24to claim his first ranking title.
03:29Just checking to see exactly where the cue ball was.
03:34OK.
03:47Just looking to feather the thin edge of the left side of the red as we look,
03:51but no joy, so it's going back again.
03:55Higgins actually hasn't beaten Robertson since 2019,
04:00so getting on for seven years ago now.
04:03That was their quarterfinal at the World Championship.
04:0713-10.
04:11But since then, it's Robertson who's won all four.
04:14Foul and a miss.
04:16John Higgins, four.
04:17This is proving to be a lucrative snooker for Higgins.
04:21Three misses already.
04:22Of course, there's no issue of a forfeited frame
04:25because he's snookered on all reds.
04:27You've got to be able to see one full ball for that rule to come into play.
04:38And this time, he's made the adjustment,
04:40and he's just about avoided the in-off as well.
04:54It was a memorable victory for Higgins when he won this title five years ago.
04:57He beat Ronnie O'Sullivan.
04:58Thrashed him, actually.
05:0010-3.
05:00He made three centuries in that final, including a 1-4-2 break.
05:05Also made the semis last year, losing to Trump, 6-4.
05:18Not an easy road by any means.
05:47What an excellent pot.
05:48So, it's Neil Robertson with the first pot of this match,
05:53and it was very well struck right in the middle.
06:09Robertson beat Barry Hawkins to win this title in 2022.
06:122022, 10-5.
06:14He was also runner-up three years previously to that, to O'Sullivan.
06:22Hoping for a 90th quarterfinal ranking appearance today.
06:28And looking to make up for what was a disappointingly early loss
06:31in Hong Kong at the World Grand Prix.
06:34A couple of weeks ago, lost 5-1 to Jack Jones.
06:37It was certainly a surprise on the face of it.
06:40Can we turn that phone off, please?
06:42Already a mobile phone has gone off.
06:45Jack Jones, of course, is a very capable player.
06:48He's a former world finalist.
06:49But to beat Robertson 5-1 was certainly an upset.
06:58Aside from that Saudi Arabia snooker Masters title this season,
07:01he made the semi-finals at the UK Championship
07:04and the German Masters back in January this year.
07:09And he was actually well beaten on the day by Sean Murphy.
07:14But because he's won that half million pounds,
07:16it's taken all the pressure off him.
07:20He knows he's going to be in all of these
07:23player series events, probably for next season,
07:25as well as this one.
07:26So, in many ways, the work has already been done.
07:30I think he thought he got a fairly lively bounce
07:33off the side cushion there.
07:37He may be right.
07:40It's just scuppered prime position.
07:42He's thinner on this red than he wanted to be.
08:01Good recovery.
08:02Good shot with the rest.
08:03And he's managed to get high side of the blue.
08:08A wonderful break builder, of course.
08:33Oh, maybe thinking more about position there than the blue.
08:39We see that so often.
08:40He's taken his eye off it, maybe,
08:42and missed it in the process.
08:47So, the break comes to a disappointingly early end for Robertson.
08:52And Higgins has a red himself.
08:57Overcut the blue.
09:10One.
09:16Higgins, as mentioned earlier,
09:18was runner-up to the international championship this season.
09:30In the end, those points have got him into this tournament,
09:33albeit that he wouldn't be here had O'Sullivan opted to play in it.
09:37Eight.
09:38And, of course, he was also finalist at the Masters,
09:41beaten by Kyron Wilson.
09:43Higgins was pretty disappointed with the way he played in that final,
09:46having played very well to get there.
09:49And, in the end, was well beaten 10-6 by Kyron,
09:52who, of course, isn't here this week
09:54because he didn't qualify for this tournament,
09:56even though he won it last year.
10:02But, generally speaking,
10:03Higgins' game
10:05is in good shape.
10:09He won the World Open
10:12last season,
10:15which was a big deal for him.
10:21It was his first ranking title in nearly four years.
10:25He'd lost five finals in a row,
10:27three of them
10:29in deciding frames,
10:30including that Tour Championship to Robertson,
10:33as mentioned.
10:33So,
10:35no doubt there were
10:36plenty of negative thoughts at the time,
10:38wondering if he still had what it took
10:41to cross the line in a big event.
10:42But he proved that at the World Open.
10:44And then, of course,
10:48he was able to follow it up
10:49by winning that Tour Championship,
10:52beating Mark Selby from 8-5 down
10:55in that final
10:55to win 10-8.
11:02And that's a tournament
11:03he'll have his eyes on
11:05going forward
11:06to get back into.
11:1724.
11:31Well, it's never fun using the spider.
11:35Inevitably, you're...
11:37queuing from a height.
11:39And that
11:40makes any pot
11:42so much more missable,
11:43the danger of putting
11:44unwanted side on the ball.
11:52But he negotiated it nicely.
11:55So, looking to punish
11:56Robertson's missed blue.
12:2532.
12:2732.
12:2832.
12:4933.
12:5133.
12:5133.
12:5233.
12:5433.
13:0734.
13:0834.
13:0834.
13:1035.
13:1435.
13:2340
13:4041
13:55remarkable that after all this time
13:57John Higgins
14:00who turned 50
14:01last year is still
14:03in the world's top 5
14:13testament to his
14:15amazing longevity as of course
14:17he shares with fellow class
14:19of 92 greats O'Sullivan
14:21and Williams as Robertson
14:23counts the cost of the Miss Blue
14:2848
14:30and it's looking
14:31likely that it will cost him this frame
14:48Higgins doesn't need the
14:49awkward looking red
14:51below the blue
14:53on the right hand side of the table or
14:55the red up near Bork
14:58he's already
14:5943 in front
15:04and there will only be 43 left
15:05if he can negotiate the next couple
15:07of reds so
15:08Higgins looking good to take a
15:101-0 lead
15:1455
15:32and he's taken these very well
15:3562
15:37this red then is frame ball
15:4563
15:48applause from the crowd
15:49to acknowledge as much
15:52and those frames where you punish
15:54your opponent's mistake
15:56when they were in
15:56always feel that bit more
15:59significant because it's more hurtful
16:01for the player who did miss
16:02having had the chance
16:04themselves
16:06so key
16:09to punish
16:10those mistakes
16:15and Higgins has certainly done that
16:17very efficiently
16:21John Higgins
16:2270
16:26well Robertson's coming back
16:28maybe principally just to
16:30have a few more shots
16:32it's unlikely he's going to win
16:33this frame
16:37oh he's just testing the
16:38trueness of the table it would seem
16:42that's one of the more unusual
16:44shots you'll see
16:44John Higgins
16:45applause
16:47applause
16:48applause
16:49applause
16:50applause
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