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John Higgins enjoyed a 5-3 win over fellow ‘Class of ’92’ icon Ronnie O’Sullivan in a lucrative exhibition match in the Chinese city of Chengdu over the weekend.
The four-time world champion also completed a 5-4 win over Judd Trump, entertaining the crowd with a series of century breaks at the Sichuan Provincial Stadium to show he has lost none of his class after turning 49 on Saturday.
Former Masters and UK champion Ding Junhui and International champion Zhang Anda were also competing on home soil with Ding completing a 5-1 win over O’Sullivan.
It came a few days after O’Sullivan produced a 134 break in a 5-2 win over Ding in a rare outdoor match on Wednesday at the Longmen Grottos in Luoyang before easing to a 5-1 win on the second night of their exhibition.
O’Sullivan is due to continue his pre-season tour of China with further challenge matches involving Zhang, Jack Lisowski, Si Jiahui and Marco Fu in Kunshan this week (May 21-22) and Shanghai next weekend (May 25-26).
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Wilson pays emotional tribute to family after World Championship glory
He is also due to travel to Tampere in Finland (June 3-5) and Bulgaria (June 7-8) where he will again face Higgins firstly in Plovdiv, and then in Sofia.
The seven-time world champion will return to Shanghai in July where he will chase a fifth-straight title victory and sixth overall at the Shanghai Masters (July 15-21).
Meanwhile, new world champion Kyren Wilson will travel to Finland next weekend for his first competitive action since his 18-14 win over Jak Jones in the 48th Crucible final earlier this month.
The Kettering player faces Ryan Day at the Helsinki International Snooker Cup on Saturday with Trump, Lisowski, Luca Brecel, Stuart Bingham, Robert Milkins and Jimmy White also set to compete in the Finnish capital.
Chelsea fan Wilson was a guest of the London club on Sunday as he paraded the World Championship trophy at Stamford Bridge before watching Mauricio Pochettino’s side defeat Bournemouth 2-1 on the final day of the Premier League season.
