In the early morning of December 17, Beijing time, the fierce battle in the semifinals of the 2023 ** Scottish Open continued. In the high-profile match, the showdown between four-time world champion John "The Wizard" Higgins and Thailand's Noppen Sangkham has attracted the attention of countless fans. However, Higgins fell behind 3-5 at the end of the eighth game and would have to win three games in a row if he wanted to advance, and the situation was precarious.
At this year's Scottish Open, Higgins, Trump and other favorites joined hands with "China's first brother" Ding Junhui to compete on the same stage. However, Ding Junhui lost 3-4 to Forde in the third round, while Trump also lost in the second round, losing to Zhang Anda. In stark contrast, Higgins, who played at home, made it all the way to the last four.
He defeated Oliver Lines 4-0, Guoqiang 4-1, and Rich Wharton 4-3, and finally ushered in a showdown with Lu Haotian. Past head-to-head records show that Lu Haotian and Higgins have played each other a total of 3 times, but the record is 3 wins and 0 wins, which is at a clear disadvantage. At the beginning of the game, Lu Haotian performed quickly, scoring 89 points in a single stroke, winning easily 93-5 and starting the game 1-0.
Higgins then pulled a game back at 91-24 with a couple of shots to tie the score at 1-1. In the third game, Higgins scored 68 points in a single stroke and beat Lu Haotian 72-0, overtaking the score to 2-1. In the fourth game, Lu Haotian won with a single stroke of 91 points, equalized the score 100-18, and the two sides returned to the same running line.
In the fifth game, Higgins won by eight points 62-54 through several shots, leading again 3-2 and winning match point. In the sixth game, Lu Haotian, who had no way out, launched a stubborn counterattack, but Higgins finally sealed the victory with a total score of 76-33, winning 4-2 on aggregate and successfully advancing to the semifinals, while Lu Haotian regretted missing the top 8. Immediately after, Higgins defeated Tom Forde 5-3 to advance to the semifinals again.
However, in the semi-finals, he fell behind 3-5 at the end of the eighth game against Thailand's Sankham at the Masters, and was under pressure to win three games in a row to advance. It remains to be seen how he will respond to this difficult situation.