Snooker: Higgins has his hero's haul in his sights after Shanghai success

Monday 24 September 2012

JOHN Higgins produced a maximum 147 break on the way to a final-frame victory in the Shanghai Masters.

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Neil Goulding

Higgins had yesterday looked down and out as he fell 7-2 behind Judd Trump in the first session of their best-of-19- frame final in the Far East.

But the four-time world champion clawed his way back, winning six frames in a row in the concluding evening session to overturn the deficit for an 8-7 lead, before pocketing the £75,000 top prize by winning a dramatic final-frame decider.

"To beat Judd from 7-2 down is unbelievable, I can't explain how it feels because I'm shell-shocked," said Higgins after his 10-9 victory."In the first session he steamrollered me, but I still felt confident that if I came back and played my best I would have a small chance. To beat Judd when he was playing that well must be one of my best wins ever."I could have won 10-8 but I started feeling some pressure and played a bad shot from brown to blue, that was just nerves. "In the last frame I decided to go full-blooded for the long red and luckily it went in. To clear up was a great feeling."One of my targets now is to get to the 28 ranking titles [Higgins is currently on 25] which my hero Steve Davis won, that would be amazing."Higgins won an additional £10,000 for his 147 break, £2000 for the tournament high-break prize and a box of six gold coins worth £5000 donated by the tournament promoter, East Asia Group. "It was really special, especially because I was 5-0 down," added Higgins, of the 91st maximum in snooker history.Looking to get a measure of revenge for his 2011 World Championship final defeat by Higgins, Englishman Trump stormed into a commanding 5-0 lead with breaks of 112, 80, 74, 111 and 59.But Higgins stopped the onslaught by potting 15 reds, 15 blacks and all the colours for a total clearance, the sixth of his career. However, Trump added two breaks of 51 and a run of 53 to restore his five-frame advantage ahead of the concluding session.Higgins, though, was not to be beaten and he hit back with breaks of 89, 74, 48, 70, 71 and 48 to edge ahead for the first time in a gripping contest.Trump levelled matters with a 105 break – his third century of the match – but Higgins moved within one frame of victory thanks to a run of 64.Higgins was taken to a decider when Trump won the penultimate frame on the final pink, but a break of 61 made sure the Scot, from Wishaw, won his 25th ranking title."John's the best I've ever played against," said Trump, who won £30,000 as the tournament runner-up.Trump went close to making a maximum of his own but, having potted 14 reds and 14 blacks in the opening frame, he missed the 15th red."It would be have been special to have made one, but I'd have taken the title over that," he added.

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Snooker: Higgins has his hero's haul in his sights after Shanghai success

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