Higgins Lands Home Title
John Higgins won the Scottish Professional Championship for the first time and became the first winner since the event was last held 22 years ago after beating local hero Anthony McGill by six-frames-to-one in Clydebank.
Higgins’ victory included a pair of century breaks and set him up nicely for his assault on this year’s Betfred.com world championship which breaks off at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre on Saturday.
The world number one will be looking for his fourth world crown and will start with a tough opener against Stephen Lee who has shown a return to the kind of form which once took him as high as number three in the rankings.
Higgins made a statement of intent in the first frame, making a 106 break to take an early lead after McGill missed a fairly straightforward red.
A scrappy second frame eventually went the way of the Wishaw Wizard before extending his lead in frame three with a run of 83.
McGill delighted the home fans by taking frame four with a break of 40.
After the interval, McGill returned to the table looking determined to make a fight of what had threatened to be a one-sided final.
But, it was Higgins who showed that his all-round game was in tip-top shape winning the tactical battle against his less experienced opponent to move ahead 4-1.
Higgins turned on the style once again, hitting his second century break of the match to take the frame with a break of 108.
This was one of the very few titles that Higgins hasn't won in his illustrious career, mainly because he had never competed in it. He was now within one frame away from landing the title and matching Stephen Hendry’s achievement of winning it at his first attempt.
Frame seven was a hard-fought battle which Higgins would eventually take, clearing the table after a fluked red created the chance that would give him the win.
Afterwards, Higgins was honoured to be the first Scottish Professional champion in what is now a new era for this competition.
He said, "I'm honoured because winning the first one in 22 years is great and it's been a great tournament, all credit to John Rea for putting it on and the crowd and the atmosphere has been great. I was desperate to try and win this and Anthony was unlucky all night, missing the odd shot and I was going in and playing some good stuff."
He also admitted that the score-line was harsh on young Anthony, saying, "I think 6-1 was harsh because he didn't play as bad as that but everything went against him on what is a tough table to play on."
He also insisted that this win gives him even more confidence and assured everyone that he would be back to defend his title next year. "This gives me more confidence because I feel I have played well all week and I hope to take this form to the Crucible. I'll be back here next year to defend my title and I wouldn't miss it for the world."
Anthony was naturally disappointed afterwards but took the positives from what has been an exceptional week.
He said, "It was good to play John in an atmosphere like that but I felt I had chances that I didn't take on the night. John doesn't make mistakes so I was punished but I can take positives because I have beaten two of the best players in the world this week and to play John at his peak can only do me good."
