Sat. Nov 23rd, 2024
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John Higgins
John Higgins has twice reached the Scottish Open final but never won it

Home hope John Higgins, defending champion Gary Wilson, China’s Zhou Yuelong and Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham are through to the Scottish Open semi-finals in Edinburgh.

Four-time world champion Higgins beat England’s Tom Ford 5-3.

Saengkham knocked out another Englishman, Sanderson Lam, by the same scoreline.

Zhou edged England’s Stuart Bingham 5-4, while Wilson cruised to a 5-0 win over fellow Englishman Chris Wakelin.

Wilson faces Zhou at 13:00 GMT on Saturday, with world number 12 Higgins, the highest ranked player left in the tournament, taking on number 26 Saengkham at 19:00.

Higgins, who has never won his home event, was relieved to progress given 18th-ranked Ford came back to level from 3-0 down.

“I think I have only ever won one tournament in Scotland, so it would be amazing to try and win here,” he told Eurosport.

“It was a big win for me as I have lost a few times to Tom and he is such an improved player. He is a top, top player, so it is a big win for me.”

Zhou, ranked 21 in the world, had to resist a Bingham fightback as the world number 25 came from 4-1 down before losing the decider – a result that means he misses out on a spot at the World Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, world number 20 Wilson told Eurosport: “It was nice to play pretty good for a change. It was a long time coming.

“I had a bad start to the season and it was just nice to find something and play how I know I can.”

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