John Higgins has booked his place in the third round of the Dafabet Northern Ireland Open and admits he was relieved to emerge from his match with Hossein Vafaei unscathed. The world number five is aiming to secure the 30th ranking event title of his career this week and remains on course after seeing off Iran’s Vafaei 4-1 in round two on Wednesday.
The Scot was pleased with his relatively straightforward progress as he knows what a tricky player world number 51 Vafaei can be on his day. “I was concentrating a little bit better tonight, I knew I probably had to,” the four-time world champion told the World Snooker website. “It was a more free-flowing game and I am pleased to beat him. He is a very dangerous player and I have a lot of respect for him.” The victory extended Higgins’ impressive run of form after he reached the semi-finals of last week’s Shanghai Masters while he claimed overall glory at the Indian Open in September.
Next up for the 42-year-old is a third-round clash with world number 56 Gary Wilson, a player he has only faced once although that ended in a 4-2 victory in 2014. Higgins, who reached the fourth round in Belfast last year, is priced at 11/2 to go all the way and win the tournament this time around. He is expected to face stiff competition from the likes of five-time world champion Ronnie O’Sullivan and Australian ace Neil Robertson.
Dafabet Northern Ireland Open odds available at Dafabet.