Chinalife Xingpai Hainan Classic 2011 - the final (part I)

12:05:00 Ramona Dragomir 0 Comments

John Higgins storms in and takes the lead
Wow! What a start for this Hainan Classic tournament! John Higgins and Jamie Cope face each other in a match where the first to cash seven frames win the big prize (aka. £40,000) and the recognition of the whole crowd. Although there are no points involved, there is no reason to think that this might not suit a snooker player, because it does and not to mention that a bit of practicing in front of the rolling cameras makes wonders for those who are qualified for the World Championship. ;-)


John Higgins started pretty well the match but he went on missing a pink, this giving Jamie Cope the chance to come to the table and start potting one ball after another. He did it in a superb way as to hit a 69 break and win the opening frame. However, the next frame was started with a foul committed by Jamie, this time John taking his chances at the snooker table; he hit a 31 but missed to pot a long red so the safety shots battle began, the winner of it being the Scot who performed a beautiful clearance of 85 as to level up the score.
Coincidence or not the third frame was opened also by a foul, this time John committing it and still the history didn’t repeat itself because Jamie only succeeded in building himself a tiny 22 break, John returning to the table to clear it for the second time with a break of 73. He was now in the lead for the first time in this match (2-1).


During the forth frame, Cope had such a huge chance to draw, but he kept on not taking advantage of his opponent’s misses. The Englishman hit a 20 break but missed in potting a long and awkward red this bringing Higgins to the table who scored 31 points in one visit and another 29 in the second one. The frame being left on the colors and because the Scotsman missed the yellow, Cope was in need of a snooker in the end, due to Higgins` mistake, Cope receiving a free ball and taking a pink as a yellow. 

Frustrated and agry - Jamie Cope
Things were starting to look pretty good for Jamie, but what do you know? He missed the yellow! One more chance for Higgins who pots it but goes on snookering himself behind the green! This was insane! Cope succeeded in potting the green but missed the brown and as the score was 62-41 in favor of the Scot, him having the opportunity to return to the table, it was crystal clear who will win this frame.


The last frame of the first session was also won by John Higgins, the current No.1 leading Jamie Cope 4-1 at the moment. The Englishman was angry and frustrated with his way of playing (at some point he even left his cue on the floor) and that was showed over and over again by the way he was hitting those snooker balls; too hard and with too much force. Hopefully he will calm down during this break and start the new session with a brand new attitude, a winner’s one.
Regarding Higgins` performance, what can one add? He played beautifully and if he keeps on doing the same in the last session he will cash one more trophy tonight ;-)


The second session starts at 13:15 (UK time) and it’s covered by British EuroSport 2 so please don’t forget to cheer for your favorite player! ;-)

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