Higgins shows no charity to fellow Scot

SNOOKER/Irish Masters:  In the somewhat incestuous world of tournament snooker, memorable achievements rarely stand alone

SNOOKER/Irish Masters:  In the somewhat incestuous world of tournament snooker, memorable achievements rarely stand alone. And there were clear resonances of Irish Masters performances of two years ago as John Higgins overcame fellow Scot Stephen Hendry by 6-4 here yesterday.

This one, however, was in the quarter-finals, whereas the 2000 defeat of Hendry was in the final. And as Higgins headed towards a possible maximum in the fourth frame yesterday, he was attempting to repeat his 147 against Jimmy White two years ago.

As things turned out, Higgins claimed a semi-final place for a third time in seven attempts, while his head-to-head score with Hendry has now closed to 9-13 in favour of the older man. And composure under stress was no more than one would have expected from a player who out-bid no less a figure than former Taoiseach Charlie Haughey in a charity auction.

"It happened over here two years ago," said Higgins. "And I had no idea until afterwards who I was bidding against. I had supped quite a bit of champagne and I remember the auction cost me £2,500."

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As further evidence of competitive steel, Higgins delivered this impressive victory despite having slept little the previous night.

"We (he and his wife) have our five-and-a-half month old son, Pierce, over with us and I'm afraid he's been finding everything a bit strange," the Scot said with a sheepish grin.

Hendry, meanwhile, was furious with the manner of his defeat, especially after a best-of-the-tournament break of 137 in the sixth frame. With the frame score at 5-4 to Higgins, Hendry led by 49 to 26 facing a pink into a middle pocket off the second-last red. Then, a surprisingly loose attempt caused him to miss, allowing Higgins in to clear to the pink.

There was a reprieve, however, when Higgins missed an over-zealous attempt on the black into a corner pocket. But Hendry spurned the chance by missing a relatively easy effort to a centre pocket once more. As might be expected, his opponent then closed the door, decisively.

Having made a sparkling break of 131 in the second frame, Higgins opened up a 3-1 lead with a break of 96 in the fourth. This latter effort comprised eight straight reds and blacks, which might have delivered more had he not missed an eminently pottable 13th red into a middle pocket.

"My form coming here has been moderate, so I'm really delighted with this," added Higgins. "It is always a bit special to beat Stephen, who was my idol growing up. My objective now is to make this a springboard for a good World Championship run at the Crucible."

In the last of the quarter-finals defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan was beaten 6-2 by world number six Matthew Stevens. In a way it was almost a predictable departure for the mercurial Londoner given his decidedly erratic form in this event since his debut in 1994.

He was never in front in a match in which Stevens struck a crucial blow with a break of 120 in the sixth for a 4-2 lead. This was compiled largely around the black and blue spots and seemed to shatter O'Sullivan's confidence as the Welshman took the next two for the match and a place in tonight's second semi-final against Higgins.

QUARTER-FINALS: J Higgins (Scotland) bt S Hendry (Scotland) 6-4 (Frame scores: Higgins first - 72-0; 131-0; 40-70; 96-0; 30-72; 0-137; 139-0; 81-25; 8-78; 56-49); M Stevens (Wales) bt R O'Sullivan (England) 6-2 (Frame scores: Stevens first: 82-37; 7-103; 72-0; 0-106; 106-15; 120-0; 64-0; 68-0).