In his 4-2 triumph over Mark Williams, John Higgins came dangerously close to making the first-ever 167 break in snooker history. He was unable to pot the gold “Riyadh Season ball.” In other matches, Ali Carter defeated Ding Junhui 4-3 and advances to face Luca Brecel in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Higgins, who won back-to-back on Monday, will face seven-time World Champion Ronnie O’Sullivan in a test.

After losing to Mark Williams 4-2, John Higgins came dangerously close to making history in snooker history with a miss on the yellow. This happened at the Riyadh Season World Masters.

The “Riyadh Season ball,” a golden ball that can only be potted when every other ball has been removed from the table while a player is on a maximum break, was introduced in the first Saudi Arabian competition.

In the first frame, Higgins scored a huge 120 points until the white ball tucked in close to the yellow, which he was unable to pot, thus capping his heroic effort.

Even so, he got off to a commanding early lead in the second round match because to his powerful start, and Williams managed to rally for a frame back to tie the score.

Williams cut the deficit in half with a match-high break of 122 after Higgins had won the first two net frames, but the Scot ended the match with a run of 64 in the sixth frame.
He’ll compete against Ronnie O’Sullivan to get to the semifinals.

In another match, Ali Carter qualified for the quarterfinals by defeating Ding Junhui 4-3 in Saudi Arabia.

On his second visit, Ding took the early lead with a productive break of 138. He was in great form going into the match and controlled the table.

At the start of the second frame, Carter was able to enter since the No. 9 rank missed a long red, and The Captain barely made a mistake as he quickly took the lead.

After scoring 69 points to tie the game, he nearly reached a century of his own by scoring 94 points in a row to take the lead.

The eighth-ranked player in the world maintained his strong play in the baize, scoring 91 points to put himself within striking distance of victory.
Ding battled back to deny Carter an easy victory, as he scored 74 points in a break to cut the lead in half.

With his second century of the game and a total break of 120, the Chinese player completed the comeback to force a decider and tie the score.
After trailing 60-0, there was a contentious free ball to allow Ding to get back into the frame in a thrilling game finale.

Carter came back, but when Ding potted the green ball that went in-off when he was chasing two snookers, Carter did enough to secure the win.
Really, I just barely over the line,” Carter said to Eurosport following the match. “At 3-1, I missed the black, and I didn’t see the ball until 3-3.