SNOOKER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP FINAL:JOHN HIGGINS, conscious that the next two or three years could determine his place in snooker's pantheon, last night converted his 11-5 first-day lead over Shaun Murphy into the 18-9 win which gave him his third world title.
Apart from Higgins, only Mark Williams (twice), Ronnie O’Sullivan (three times), Steve Davis (six) and Stephen Hendry (seven) have lifted aloft the 82-year-old trophy more than once on the game’s most famous stage.
“I am over the moon,” said Higgins. “I don’t know what to say. It’s brilliant. To be classed with someone like Ronnie (O’Sullivan), it’s an unbelievable honour.
“It’s great to elevate yourself just a little touch to be up there with the great champions. I won it in ’98 and it’s amazing to win it now twice in three years. The second session made the difference. Shaun missed a couple that he wouldn’t normally and I managed to get a gap between us.”
Murphy agreed: “The second session was where it went wrong for me, but John’s tactical game was awesome. His tactical game is the best I’ve ever seen.”
Murphy fought an uphill battle manfully. Perhaps his emotional energy had been drained by the victories over Hendry (13-11) and in the semi-final over the Australian Neil Robertson (17-14).
After both semi-finals had featured stirring if ultimately unsuccessful recoveries, the final provided a tame conclusion to a 17-day championship which produced some dramatic finishes, such as Hendry’s ninth maximum break in competition and a record 83 centuries.
The final lacked drama because the key passage of the contest, the Scot’s progress from 5-5 to 12-5, embracing six frames on Sunday evening and the first yesterday afternoon, came early. As Murphy only twice won consecutive frames thereafter any incipient recovery was invariably strangled almost at birth.
Higgins said fear and ambition have motivated him this season: “There were young players coming through and I was falling down the rankings (which are assessed over two seasons). I was 14th on the provisional list at the start of the season and when you see players like Mark Williams and Ken Doherty dropping out of the top 16 you realise you’ve no divine right to be there.”
Murphy’s cause here cannot have been helped by being confronted by tabloid reporters on Friday seeking a reaction to a “kiss and tell” story published on Sunday.
Higgins, meanwhile, maintained a formidable consistency. When the choice of shot is marginal his calculation of risk, difficulty, potential gain and alternatives is unfailingly astute.
Higgins took the €280,000 first prize, with Murphy claiming €140,000 as runner-up.
GuardianService
