Scottish Open: John Higgins and holder Gary Wilson qualified to next stage
- John Higgins and holder Gary Wilson reach semi-finals.
Home hope John Higgins, defending champion Gary Wilson, China’s Zhou Yuelong and Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham are through to the Scottish Open semi-finals in Edinburgh.
Four-time world champion Higgins beat England’s Tom Ford 5-3.
Saengkham knocked out another Englishman, Sanderson Lam, by the same scoreline.
Zhou edged England’s Stuart Bingham 5-4, while Wilson cruised to a 5-0 win over fellow Englishman Chris Wakelin.
Wilson faces Zhou at 13:00 GMT on Saturday, with world number 12 Higgins, the highest ranked player left in the tournament, taking on number 26 Saengkham at 19:00.
Higgins, who has never won his home event, was relieved to progress given 18th-ranked Ford came back to level from 3-0 down.
“I think I have only ever won one tournament in Scotland, so it would be amazing to try and win here,” he told Eurosport.
“It was a big win for me as I have lost a few times to Tom and he is such an improved player. He is a top, top player, so it is a big win for me.”
Zhou, ranked 21 in the world, had to resist a Bingham fightback as the world number 25 came from 4-1 down before losing the decider – a result that means he misses out on a spot at the World Grand Prix.
Meanwhile, world number 20 Wilson told Eurosport: “It was nice to play pretty good for a change. It was a long time coming.
“I had a bad start to the season and it was just nice to find something and play how I know I can.”
