John Higgins v Yan Bingtao live stream | English Open 2021 preview

John Higgins and Yan Bingtao renew their rivalry once again as they clash in the English Open quarter-finals on Friday.

The great snooker keeps on coming at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes, with youth pitted against experience for a place in the semi-finals.

Four-time World champion Higgins has dropped just five frames in four matches this week on the way to securing his 128th appearance in the last eight of a ranking event – a tally he shares with Ronnie O’Sullivan.

The Wizard has been fluent in the balls; producing frame-winning breaks in 15 of the 16 he has won so far, including three centuries.

Runner-up at the Northern Ireland Open three weeks ago, Higgins is now aiming to reach the semi-finals of this event for the second year running.

And the 46-year-old, who triumphed at the 2018 Welsh Open, will hope that subsequently transpires into him becoming only the sixth multiple champion of the Home Nations Series.

Higgins was a 6-2 winner over Yan when they met in the semi-finals in Belfast; reeling off six successive frames while avenging his defeat by the Tiger in the Masters showpiece.

Although, Yan has prevailed in all three of their previous encounters at this stage of a ranking event.

This will be the 21-year-old’s 14th ranking event quarter-final – and sixth in the Home Nations Series.

The Tiger has once again demonstrated brilliant character and calmness under pressure throughout the week.

This was evident on Thursday as he recovered from 2-0 down to defeat Championship League winner David Gilbert 4-2, before producing a nerveless 31 clearance to snatch a 4-3 victory on the final black against World champion Mark Selby, who had recovered in trademark fashion from 3-1 down to force a decider.

The winner will play O’Sullivan in the semi-finals.

Play gets underway at 7pm GMT with the match contested over the best of nine frames at the Marshall Arena in Milton Keynes.

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