John Higgins secured his place in the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship in a convincing fashion last night, defeating Kyren Wilson on a scoreline of 13-2 in their last-16 clash.
The Scot dominated the match throughout, winning all eight frames in the first session. He would go on to hammer home that advantage once play resumed, eventually coming out on top with a session to spare.
Higgins made some top class shots throughout, although one pot in particular had people questioning the playing conditions at the Crucible.
Commentator questions Higgins shot at World Snooker Championship
In the 13th frame of the match, John Higgins was faced with what was essentially an impossible shot on the black. Despite the ball pressed up against the cushion and having very little angle with the cue ball, he decided to take it on.
Even though it would immediately rebound off the cushion, the black somehow found its way into the corner pocket. The player himself even shook his head in disbelief.
You can watch the shot below.
"That had 𝙣𝙤 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 to go in."
John Higgins was already walking back to his chair when this black dropped in 😲@WeAreWST | #CazooWorldChampionship pic.twitter.com/ulXcq6lViT— Eurosport (@eurosport) April 23, 2023
While speaking on Eurosport, commentator Neal Foulds said that this pot was just the latest example of this table being overly kind to players at the Crucible over the last few days.
That is ridiculous.
I have got to make a statement, and I don’t want to detract from any of the play as the standard has been brilliant and I don’t bang on about conditions, this table has played easy, very easy all week.
That is not to say that these players are not brilliant at what they do, I am just making the point as that had no right to go in.
As it turns out, Higgins actually agrees with that assessment.
Appearing on Eurosport after the match, the 47-year old admitted that he only took the shot on due to the conditions being so favourable to players at the tournament.
🗣 “That should 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 go in, should it? My God!”
John Higgins doesn't think this black should have made it into the pocket.@WeAreWST | #CazooWorldChampionship pic.twitter.com/Y8H7kiIxEx— Eurosport (@eurosport) April 24, 2023
That should never go in, should it? My god, that should never go in. That's bad isn't it?...
That shouldn't go in really. I think all the players are feeling it, they're playing a little bit bigger than normal...
You're going to have all the club players at home looking at that and saying 'see, I knew these bags were massive'. They are maybe a little bit bigger than normal.
The cloth seems to be really reactive and really slidy. The cloth is helping.
It will be interesting to see how this affects play over the remainder of the tournament, although there does seem to be a consensus among players that this particular table is playing rather easy in comparison to what you would expect.
Considering this is the biggest event in snooker, the organisers probably won't be all that pleased with that.
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