In the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship, which just ended on May 1, 2022, Beijing time, O'Sullivan and Higgins once again staged a classic showdown. O'Sullivan was very strong in this game, with a superb 17-11 victory over four-time world champion Higgins with a superb performance of 116 points, 107 points, 101 points, 121 points, 134 points, 70 points, 73 points, 99 points, 91 points, 55 points, 70 points, 82 points, 54 points, 67 points and 83 points. Next, he will start the final title battle with Trump at 20:00 today.
O'Sullivan won five straight sets to lead Higgins 10-6
In the first two stages of the match between the two sides, O'Sullivan was clearly in very good shape. But as soon as the game began, Higgins won three consecutive sets and took a 3-0 lead with 76:53, 50 points and 58 points. O'Sullivan then scored 70, 54 and 116 points to win three straight games in a 3-3 draw with Higgins. Higgins then won the first set, and O'Sullivan also recovered the set with a single 107 points to draw with Higgins 4-4. After entering the second stage, Higgins' status declined significantly. O'Sullivan took the lead with a single 73-pointer to take a 5-4 lead, followed by Higgins took a 6-5 lead in two straight sets. Next, O'Sullivan scored 99, 91, 55 and 70 points, as well as a single-set streak, to win five straight sets and take a 10-6 lead over Higgins to end the first 16 innings.
Higgins lost three straight sets to trail O'Sullivan 9-15
After the game entered the third stage, Higgins' state improved significantly, but his emotional management was out of control and affected his form. The game moved to the 17th inning, with Higgins taking the lead and winning the game 66-30 to leave O'Sullivan 7-10. In the 18th inning, O'Sullivan single-handedly scored 82 points to win the set 104-32 to give Higgins an 11-7 lead. In the 19th inning, Higgins scored 51 points and won the game 84-37 to determine that he was 8-11 behind O'Sullivan. In the 20th set, O'Sullivan scored 101 points to take a 12-8 lead over Higgins. In the 21st inning, Higgins scored a 103-point clean sheet for O'Sullivan to trail the all-time first man 9-12. In the 22nd inning, O'Sullivan scored 121 points at 121:16 to take a 13-9 lead. In the 23rd inning, O'Sullivan scored 54 points and won the game 105:26 to take a 14-9 lead over Higgins. In the 24th inning, O'Sullivan scored 134 points to take a 15-9 lead.
O'Sullivan fired on to defeat Higgins 17-11
After the game entered the second half, O'Sullivan did not get into form anytime soon. The game moved to the 25th inning, and Higgins took the lead in winning the game 69-5 with a good one-shot 69 points to close the gap to five innings after falling behind O'Sullivan 10-15. In the 26th inning, Higgins scored nine points first, then O'Sullivan scored a red ball to play, and O'Sullivan scored 67 points to complete the overscore. Although Higgins then tried to change the score, in the end, O'Sullivan won the game 83:31 to lead Higgins 16-10 and successfully won the match point. In the 27th set, Higgins led a win that won the game 81:40 on multiple mobile games to leave O'Sullivan 11-16. In the 28th inning, O'Sullivan scored a 16-point lead, followed by Higgins' mistake, and O'Sullivan scored a red ball to play again. In the end, O'Sullivan scored 83 points to beat Higgins 17-11 to advance to the final.