Higgins in prime position

Snooker/ World Championship: John Higgins, appearing in his first final here since he was runner-up in 1997 and champion a year later, led Mark Selby, a 23-year-old qualifier from Leicester who had already exceeded the wildest expectations attached to him, 11-4 more than halfway into the second of the four sessions that make up the best-of-35-frames final of the world championship.

Higgins led 2-1 after three pedestrian frames that occupied 90 minutes in all. Selby's much more impressive capture of the next two with breaks of 67 and 116, his 11th century of the tournament, galvanised a response in which runs of 97, 39, 31, 32 and 44 interspersed with some tight tactical play, restricted Selby to a mere 29 points in the three remaining frames of the afternoon as Higgins led 5-3.

Higgins started the evening session smartly and made Selby pay dearly for a double kiss on a red when trying to play safe with an opening break of 75.

It was a similar scenario in the next when a poor break-off shot by Selby let in Higgins again and he put together a run of 75 before his opponent conceded.

Luck was against Selby in frame 11 when he had a large kick on the blue and missed an awkward red. In stepped Higgins for a 100 clearance.

Higgins rattled off the next frame to lead 9-3 at the evening interval.

Selby pulled a frame back on the resumption but Higgins responded immediately by taking the next to make it 10-4. He then won a long and scrappy 15th to stretch his advantage to seven frames.

Higgins is a living exemplar of the axiom "form is temporary, class is permanent". Coming to Sheffield "under the radar", as he put it, with only one semi-final to his name this season, he will leave it as world number one in the end-of-season rankings regardless of today's result.

As he approaches his 32nd birthday, only a few seasons before the age the hand-eye co-ordination even of the best tends to decline, he has all the experience he is ever likely to need and it was through learning a lesson of defeat in the 2000 semi-final here that he was able to overcome Stephen Maguire in the semi-finals.

Seven years ago, he led Mark Williams 14-10 going into their final session only to lose 17-15.

This time, in a neat mirror image, Higgins trailed Maguire 14-10 before prevailing 17-15.

"I knew Stephen was thinking I'd come back at him. That was the way I was thinking against Mark," said Higgins. "Instead of playing his natural game he tried to protect his lead too much."

Maguire (26) saw defeat as having "thrown away a great opportunity to win the title."

And it is true that, well as Higgins played, Maguire missed a gilt-edged chance to clear up to lead by two with only three to play: "Once I missed the (frame ball) pink I knew it was going to be difficult to get over the line."

Maguire's task now is to cope with his disappointment better than when he lost 10-9 to Ronnie O'Sullivan on the opening day here two years ago after being within two pots of victory at 9-7.

After his dramatic semi-final win, Higgins was disarmingly candid about his new status as a teetotaller, a decision influenced by the embarrassment of being ordered off the flight home after losing the final of last year's Malta Cup to Ken Doherty.

"I do enjoy a drink but I didn't know when to stop," he said. "Most weekends I'd go to football with my brothers and we'd drink afterwards. Then I'd be hung-over and not feel like practising on Monday or even Tuesday and suddenly the week was gone."

Selby has been playing full time since he was 16 but it was not until he abandoned a prodigiously long backswing, even for short or slow shots, that his career has taken off.

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