Jordan Brown came crashing back down to earth as he was beaten 6-0 by an impressive John Higgins at the Players Championship in Milton Keynes.
Brown pulled off one of the biggest shocks in recent snooker history when beating Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final of the Welsh Open on Sunday, claiming his first ranking-title victory in the process, but he appeared to be suffering from a Home Nations hangover here and Higgins made him pay with an impressive display.
Brown's afternoon was summed up when, having already lost the first four frames, the Northern Irishman missed the simplest of the frame-ball pinks when hoping to stage a comeback. In typically ruthless style, Higgins potted the final two colours to extend his lead to 5-0 and moments later he closed out the match with a break of 53.
Higgins has been one of the form horses since the turn of the year and the Masters runner-up barely missed a beat in six flawless frames of snooker, the Scot starting with three consecutive centuries (122, 133 and 121).
When he added a run of 57 to win the fourth frame, Higgins had amassed 433 points to Brown's paltry eight and though the latter showed glimpses of last weeks' form with a break of 53 in the fifth frame, it wasn't enough to hand him a foothold in a match that well and truly belonged to his opponent.
Higgins said: “I was really happy with that and I don’t think I could have hit the ball any better in those first three frames.
“It was difficult for Jordan. He hit such a high winning the Welsh and he probably came out and felt really flat out there.”
Higgins will face Mark Selby in the last eight after the latter produced a strong finish to see off Welshman Mark Williams 6-4.
Williams appeared to hold the upper-hand at 2-0 and 4-3 but Selby rallied with consecutive breaks of 78, 73 and 64 to wrap up victory.
Wednesday’s late match saw Barry Hawkins beat Stuart Bingham 6-2 to book his place in the semi-finals.
Bingham had edged out world number one and tournament holder Judd Trump in the last round, but a couple of half-century breaks saw Hawkins move 3-2 ahead.
Hawkins eventually claimed a tense sixth frame – which saw almost 30 minutes pass without a ball being potted as well as encompassing a toilet break – before a clearance of 70 moved him to within sight of victory.
An inadvertent foul in potting a red from a cannon into the pack when building a break allowed Bingham back to the table, but Hawkins recovered to clear from the yellow to edge the eighth frame 61-50 and secure a spot in the last four.
