JOHN Higgins was motoring towards his greatest ever victory last night as he opened a five-frame lead over Mark Selby in the Betfred World Championship final – with the potential for that to stretch even further as the battle headed long into the night.
The stage is now set for Higgins to write one of the greatest chapters in the Crucible Theatre’s 40-year association with snooker’s greatest tournament, as he bids to become the oldest winner since 1978 and take home the record £375,000 cheque.
But he will fully aware of the size of the task he still faces against two-time winner Selby, the sport’s dominant force – who he has tipped to challenge Stephen Hendry’s record of seven world titles.
Higgins is not far behind his Scottish compatriot, and could be in line to win his fifth world crown – and record his 921st professional win which would be a new record, surpassing Steve Davis’ 920.
And history is on his side, too, with the veteran not having lost a world final since 2001 and beaten Selby a decade ago at this very stage, 18-13, to lift his second world title.
However, the years since his fourth triumph against Judd Trump in 2011 have not always been kind – making his return to the top of his game, aged 41, all the more remarkable.
Selby, distracted by a different feel from the resurfaced table, could not live with him on the opening day in the best-of-35 final, as Higgins ruthlessly converted every opportunity he was offered while keeping his safety game water tight.
“It is funny because if you said it to me before the event, I would have said it would be amazing to win it – and it would be,” Higgins said on the eve of this contest.
“But now I am just trying to stay focussed and give it my all against the number one player in the world.
“It would be my biggest achievement, without a doubt.
“Mark will probably not go below a certain level, I definitely need to raise my game. I will need to play as well as I did against Mark Allen [in round two] to have a chance against Mark [Selby].
“The good thing is I know what I have got to do and there is one last massive game for the season, I just need to give it everything and see where it takes me.”
Leading into the match, Higgins was the underdog based on their contrasting semi-finals – he had failed to reach his best against Barry Hawkins, while Selby produced one of the performances of his life to beat Ding Junhui in an all-time classic.
But Higgins did, as he said he must, improve – leading 6-2 after the first session, with the highlight a superb break of 141 as he won the final five frames against an increasingly out-of-sorts Selby.
The match had a familiar feel to it, as ten years ago Higgins dominated the first day against the then-raw Leicester potter on his way to his second world crown.
Selby responded in the first frame of the evening session, though, with a steady 86 suggesting he was back to his best.
But Higgins claimed frame ten, before stealing the next after Selby inexplicably fouled when trying to snooker him.
The world number one only had to roll the ball behind the green, but he hit it too softly – and the Scot took advantage with a superb clearance.
Selby showed plenty of grit to claw it back to 8-4 as they headed for the mid-session interval – his game far from its usual high standards, but he slipped even further behind after the break.
Watch the Snooker World Championship Live on Eurosport and Eurosport Player, with Colin Murray and analysis from Jimmy White and Neal Foulds
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