John Higgins scored one of the most satisfying victories of his career and ended a sequence of four years without a ranking title by beating Joe O’Connor 10-6 in the final of the Weide Cup World Open in Yushan, China.
One of snooker’s all-time greats, Higgins feared that his days of lifting trophies were over, particularly after a series of a narrow defeats in crucial matches, most painfully a 10-9 reverse from 9-4 ahead in the 2022 Tour Championship final against Neil Robertson.
Wishaw’s 49-year-old Higgins has, at last, buried those demons by capturing his first ranking title since the 2021 Players Championship. And it’s a huge event – with a top prize of £175,000 which lifts him to eighth in the Johnstone’s Paint World Rankings and up to third in the Johnstone’s Paint One-Year list. He now has 32 ranking titles, behind only Ronnie O’Sullivan (40) and Stephen Hendry (36).
Set to turn 50 in May, the Scot becomes the second oldest ranking event winner in snooker history, after Ray Reardon who was just the other side of his 50th birthday when he won the 1982 Professional Players Tournament. Higgins also sets a new record for the longest gap between first and most recent ranking titles, 30 years and 129 days after his maiden success at the 1994 Grand Prix.
Fellow ‘Class of 92’ members O’Sullivan and Mark Williams have had moments in the limelight in recent seasons, which may have stung for Higgins as his standard was still high but he struggled to handle nerves in big moments, describing it himself as “mental fragility.” He has never lost the hunger to win more titles and has experimented extensively with different cues as well as techniques to keep his emotions under control. This week he has found a formula that works, and the four-time Crucible king will hope that lasts as he looks to extend his astonishing longevity.
O’Connor had played perhaps the best snooker of his life in reaching the final, knocking out the likes of Judd Trump, Shaun Murphy and Ali Carter. The 29-year-old from Leicester started slowly today and left himself too big a deficit to claw back, and is still waiting for his first pro title, having lost his only previous final 9-2 against Gary Wilson at the 2022 Scottish Open. Still, the £75,000 pay day is a career best and lifts him eight places to world number 31.
Leading 6-2 after the first session, Higgins soon extended that advantage as a break of 68 helped him take the opening frame of the evening session. Runs of 71 and 70 got O’Connor back to 7-4, only for Higgins to respond with 57 and 94 to go 9-4 ahead.
In frame 14, Higgins had a chance for victory from 45-1 down, but made just 24 before missing a risky plant to a centre pocket, handing his opponent the chance to pull one back. Higgins established a 43-8 lead in the 15th before O’Connor got the better of a safety exchange and, with the balls in unpromising positions, made a marvellous 67 clearance including a double on the final green to a centre pocket.
At 9-6, Higgins may have feared a late collapse, but he composed himself and finished in superb style with a break of 100, his fifth century of the tournament.
Article by WST.
