Higgins vs Zhao Xintong Prediction 4 April 2026

John continues his title defense in Manchester, and it's proving to be quite a challenge as both of his matches have been closely contested. First, he overcame Mark Williams, which seemed routine, although John did squander a significant lead. Then, he faced an even tougher opponent in Mark Selby.

Higgins edged out Selby with a 10-8 victory. It was a thrilling match in terms of score swings-truly a rollercoaster. Higgins took the first session 5-3, which was impressive, but in the second part, the Scotsman lost five consecutive frames right from the start.

Thus, we witnessed a phenomenal comeback. Higgins clinched at least two frames in tight battles. It's possible that Selby lacked the match sharpness needed for crucial games. In this encounter, John Higgins managed to rack up an impressive nine half-centuries. A commendable performance.

It seems likely that the Chinese player had a good rest after the World Open and arrived in Manchester with the right mindset. A Zhao in this form will be hard to stop, as he seems to be back to his February best. The champion played his first match in the Tour Championship, leaving no room for doubt, only admiration. Chris Wakelin is surely feeling the same.

Zhao Xintong defeated the Englishman 10-4. Wakelin managed to win only one frame in the second session, while the Chinese player utterly dominated at the table. Zhao Xintong consistently delivered impressive breaks in this match, racking up a series of century breaks-five in total. If there are steamrollers in snooker, this was definitely one of them. It's also worth noting that Wakelin crumbled under such pressure and started making mistakes himself. The final frames wrapped up very quickly.