John Higgins’ quest for a fifth British Open title came to an end this season as he suffered a second-round defeat to Robbie Williams. Williams showcased an impressive performance, featuring breaks of 73, 91, 52, and 118 as he advanced to the third round of the tournament. Higgins joins Judd Trump and Neil Robertson in exiting the competition prematurely. In a later match, Mark Allen endured a significant loss to Kyren Wilson.
Four-time winner John Higgins and third seed Mark Allen crashed out of the British Open in the second round as the shocks kept coming on Wednesday.
They join Judd Trump and Neil Robertson as high-profile names to exit the competition early.
Robbie Williams compiled breaks of 73, 91, 52 and 118 to pull off an impressive win against Higgins.
Williams will face Scott Donaldson in the next round on Thursday.
Higgins was punished for missing a black off its spot in the first frame as Williams made a confident break of 73.
A red doubled into the middle pocket got Williams started in the second frame.
Although he couldn’t make a sizable break from the shot, he got another chance after Higgins missed with a rest shot.
Williams knocked in a break of 91 to take the frame and move 2-0 ahead.
It looked like Higgins would get on the board in the third frame, only to run out of position at 42-20 ahead.
Williams again took his chance, getting some fortune in breaking apart two reds near the cushion and then taking the frame to move one from victory.
With the finish line in sight, Williams passed up an opportunity for a match-winning break as he missed a pot when looking to split the bunch.
That allowed Higgins in and a break of 116 gave him hope of a comeback.
But Higgins then missed a cut into the middle and could only watch on from his seat as Williams made a break of 118 to win the match.
Also through is Mark Selby, who came from 2-0 down to beat Tian Pengfei 4-2.
Like Higgins, Selby found himself in trouble early on as Tian took the first frame and then followed up with a break of 102.
But Selby responded with breaks of 67, 57 and 93 to move into the lead.
Tian looked like levelling but couldn’t close out the fourth frame when 65-0 ahead. Selby pounced and took the frame and the win.
Third seed Allen later fell to a resounding 4-0 defeat at the hands of Kyren Wilson as the upsets kept coming in Cheltenham.
Wilson opened strongly, making century breaks of 112 and 121 in the first two frames to take an early advantage.
There were a few more nerves on show for Wilson in frame three as he gave Allen a couple of chances for a steal, but the uncharacteristically sloppy Northern Irishman couldn’t capitalise and lost out once more.
Wilson then completed a superb victory in a tight frame. Allen produced his best break of 54, but it wasn’t enough to deny the English eighth seed.
The evening session kicked off with yet another upset as India’s Ishpreet Singh Chadha, ranked No. 110 at the tournament, knocked out former world champion Stuart Bingham 4-2.
Bingham, seeded 21st at the British Open, was level at 2-2 but breaks of 69 and 71 in the final two frames saw Chadha surge to victory.
The Indian No. 1 will face David Gilbert next.
Mark Williams overcame a tough test from Gary Wilson to win 4-2 and book a spot in the next round against Ding Junhui or Julien Leclercq.
The ninth-seeded three-time world champion claimed the first frame with a break of 60. However, Wilson responded with runs of 62 and 74 to take the lead. Williams then equalized with a well-executed 72 break, his highest of the match, before securing the next two frames to seal the victory.
