The evening match at The Masters on Monday sees two men who could easily go all the way in the tournament meeting in an appealing first round match when John Higgins takes on Jack Lisowski for a place in the quarter final.
Both men will know that Mark Selby has already gone from their quarter so the draw has already opened up for them which might only add to the competitiveness of what already looked a good contest.
John Higgins
Christmas probably came at the right time for John Higgins. This season so far has been nothing like the one he enjoyed, or endured given that he lost five finals, last term. It has been so bad that he hasn’t even made the World Grand Prix later this month which means he isn’t inside the top 32 on the rankings for this season. Clearly he needs a good second part of the campaign but he can leave his ranking struggles behind here and focus on winning a prestigious event.
Higgins has a bit of a love-hate relationship with this tournament. He has only won it on two occasions and hasn’t lifted this trophy since 2006. He has lost in three finals, most recently to Yan Bingtao in 2021. He has reached at least the quarter final in four of the last five years and will probably still remember the incredible ovation he received in that epic last eight clash against Mark Williams here last year.
Jack Lisowski
Higgins might be struggling this season but that certainly isn’t the case with Jack Lisowski. He is enjoying a consistent season without having that breakthrough result. We know he is still looking for a first ranking event success but the fact he continues to make this tournament despite not holding any silverware only goes to show the consistency he has in his game. The highlight of his season was a run to the semi-final of the UK Championship where he went down in a deciding frame.
Where the doubts might occur with Lisowski is his record in this tournament. He has never won a match at The Masters and he has had three goes at it. That might be a concern although it might also highlight an issue that he has in the big matches. He hasn’t been in the top eight in the world rankings before so he will always have faced a higher ranked player in the first round and much like when he has made ranking finals against similar level opposition, he has come up short each time.
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Head-to-head
These two have gone at it seven times in their careers with John Higgins coming out on top on five of those occasions with Lisowski winning twice. The last time they met was in an epic quarter final at the World Championship last season which Higgins won in a deciding frame. Higgins actually leads 42-30 in the frame count although much of that is down to a 13-1 win at the World Championship in 2018. This will be the first time they have met at The Masters and their first meeting over the best of 11 frames so how much we can take from their past battles remains to be seen.
Betting
I think this is one of those Masters matches which can ebb and flow like only games in this tournament can. Bookmakers can’t split these two fine players and I think that is fair enough. I think it was going to be competitive anyway but I think it will be even more so with both men knowing that it is Hossein Vafaei in their way of a semi-final spot rather than Mark Selby. Whoever comes through here will be a huge favourite to win that match.
If I was forced to I would side with Higgins to win this one just based on experience and the fact he has actually won a match here which Lisowski is yet to do but he has developed a habit of tripping over in front of the finishing line and just in case that comes along again I think I would rather take over 9.5 frames. There was nothing between these two men at the World Championship last year and their two meetings prior to that were close too. I think this will live up to that and over 9.5 frames looks a good bet at odds against.
Tips
Back Over 9.5 frames for a 3/10 stake at 2.10 with Betfair
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