Higgins trumps teenage qualifier to march on to Grand Prix final in front of home crowd

Published on Saturday 18 October 2008 20:15

JOHN Higgins fought off a spirited fightback from young gun Judd Trump to book his place in today's Royal London Watches Grand Prix final in Glasgow.

The three-time Grand Prix champion clinched a fine 6-4 semi-final victory at the SECC.

But having established a commanding 4-1 lead, Higgins saw Trump level the match by winning three frames in quick succession.

However, Higgins dug deep at the 502,100 tournament to pull away again to make sure of a place in his seventh Grand Prix final.

"I felt a little bit under pressure at the start of the match because he had nothing to lose, but I knew that if I could hang in there and get to five frames before him I could hopefully put some pressure in the next frame.

"Luckily I had a chance and played well in the last two frames to win the match," said Higgins. "It's really hard to play these young players because they all go for their shots, so it's really pleasing to get through to the final."

Higgins has won 18 ranking titles during a glittering career, but none in Scotland. The world No.5 wants to change that unwanted statistic today in front of his family and friends. "I'll be the favourite now to win the tournament but it's going to be a tough match," added Higgins.

"I do think my game is there," Higgins continued. "At the start of the match I couldn't pot eight, but I was really pleased with the way I finished the match. I'm feeling confident.

"I've lost a couple of finals up here to Ronnie (O'Sullivan], which is pretty hard to take because you've got all your friends and family here to watch you. I would dearly love to win it here.

"It's really hard to play these young players because they all go for their shots, so it's really pleasing to get through to the final.

"At 4-1 I thought he was struggling a little bit and I thought I'd probably go on to win quite comfortably. But he's a great talent, he pots them off the lampshades. He's going to be a great player in the future, there's no doubt about that.

"He'll just need to get used to the TV conditions, but we've all gone through that. He pots balls for fun, but if he learns the tactical side he's got a great future ahead of him."

Breaks of 79 and 80 saw Trump, the world number 41, level proceedings, but Higgins responded in style, winning the next two frames with breaks of 61 and 83 to deservedly progress.

"At 4-4 I thought I had a good chance to win it, but John made his experience count in those last two frames," said Trump.