Stevens leaves Higgins on the ropes - 06/10/2011

John Higgins 2-3 Matthew Stevens
5-104 (Stevens 104), 68-87 (Stevens 46), 61-1(Higgins 57), 0-51 (Stevens 46)

Matthew Stevens looked in fine fettle as he played his way through to the final match of the evening, defeating John Higgins in a shoot out at Hutton Moor Leisure Centre in Weston-super-Mare.

He will now meet Judd Trump in a highly anticipated final while John Higgins looks in deep trouble with just one of his four events remaining. The World Champion has just five points and can only accumulate a total of 11 which will probably not be enough.

Stevens looked in great shape in the opener as he ran in a ton to give himself a chance of the £1,000 top break of the night prize. That piled even more pressure on Higgins who after his first two Premier League outings was languishing in eighth spot.

There was more woe for the World Champion in the next frame as he looked in a commanding position in the closing stages but Stevens stole the frame on the colours to take a 2-0 lead.

However, a tidy run of 57 by Higgins in the next got him right back into the game. Stevens lead 67-30 in the fourth but missed a red into the centre pocket and from there Higgins made an excellent clearance to win on the black to force a ‘Shoot Out’ decider.

As in previous shoot-outs in the Premier League, it was won in a single visit as Stevens ran in a break of 46 as he ran down the clock to take the match.