Higgins falls to Ebdon's finesse

Reigning Irish Masters champion John Higgins was coolly dismissed by the lethally-sharp Peter Ebdon in the first of yesterday's quarter-finals.

It was the briefest of tournaments for the Scottish world number two, who only began his defence yesterday. As it was, he spent much of the afternoon rooted in his seat as Peter Ebdon established a fluid and aggressive game that suggests he is poised to claim his second Irish title. There was an element of luck to what developed into a ferocious opening phase of play, his first red falling after a missed shot. From that point, however he made his own fortune, steadily crafting a break of 63. He missed a frame-making pink and although Higgins responded with a hardearned return of 22, Ebdon closed out the first frame with minimal fuss.

Over the next two frames, he dominated utterly, leaving his opponent sitting as he fired in breaks of 68 and 90 without allowing Higgins to pot so much as a ball. Up three frames to zero, Ebdon played with the sort of cold fury that governed his initial ascent in the game.

"Why not? It's nice to play that way when you are cueing well," he reasoned afterwards. "You lot are going to have to give me a break - two seasons ago everyone was giving out to me for being slow and negative. Now it's the opposite.

"But I always fancied playing well here this week. Even before I put my hand on the table for my first match, I thought conditions looked beautiful. Some of my fondest memories in snooker have come from the Irish Masters," added the 1995 champion. It was a win that the Englishman obviously savoured, particularly given that Higgins had some good spells of his own. He did respond to Ebdon's blistering opening and managed to work himself into a potentially match saving situation taking the fourth frame with a steady break of 66 and eventually clawing his way back to a 4-3 deficit.

But Ebdon was unforgiving. In frame three, Higgins missed a long red to give Ebdon a significant opening and the same occurred in the last frame, when the Scot again tried to guide an ambitious opening shot into the corner pocket.

That miss left the table at Ebdon's mercy and, playing with his familiar terse poise, he ended Higgins's interest in the tournament with an efficient 83 break.

"I'm so pleased with the way I'm playing," he admitted afterwards. "I have the highest respect for John, he is one of the greatest players the game has seen and I am delighted to have beaten him. Even before I got my hand on the table, I could tell it was playing beautifully and it I felt good out there."

"Peter does have a good record against me," sais Higgins, "and he thoroughly deserved his win. But I will need to improve because it's been a bad season. I need to have a good run now in the Scottish Open otherwise I will go to Sheffield for the world championship and my confidence will be very low."

Steve Davis was last night battling with typical dilligence in the wake of a beautifully-smooth opening phase from fellow Londoner Ronnie O'Sullivan. Snooker's great statesman could do little but watch as O'Sullivan glided through the first three frames flawlessly. He matched his first nine reds with black-ball pots, taking the first frame 72-0, before capitalising on Davis's error on a red at the beginning of the next with a breathtaking 137-0 clearance. That break was the highest of the tournament.

Such was O'Sullivan's form that a whitewash seemed a real possibility, but Davis maintained his famously icy concentration and took the fourth frame. O'Sullivan was again white-hot after the interval, rushing to a 136 clearance, but after that began to display a degree of inconsistency.

He squandered a facile red in frame six and was guilty of another appalling miss in the next frame, which Davis took on a score of 68-46 to trail by just one frame. O'Sullivan rediscovered his verve in the ninth frame but both players were engaged in an error-ridden ninth late last night.

QUARTER-FINALS: P Ebdon (Eng) bt J Higgins (Sco) 6-3 (Frames score Ebdon 1st) 71-22,68-0, 117-0,1-71, 66-53, 30-93, 25-84, 61-25, 83-0.

TODAY'S ORDER OF PLAY: M Williams (Wal) v S Hendry (Sco) (2.00pm), P Ebdon (Eng) v R O'Sullivan/S Davis (Eng) (7.00pm).