Higgins takes command in Sheffield

Published on Monday 7 May 2007 01:39

JOHN Higgins excelled himself to take a strong grip on his 888.com World Championship final with qualifier Mark Selby in Sheffield last night.

The new world No 1 won seven frames in a row to open up a 9-3 lead by the interval of the second session in the best-of-35 showdown before extending it to 12-4 after the break.

Higgins, the 1998 champion, had initially been out of sorts by his own high standards against 23-year-old Selby - who led 3-2 at one juncture.

But the Wishaw player conjured up some magical snooker and the confidence seemed to drain out of Selby as he was kept off the table for long periods.

Higgins resumed with a 5-3 advantage and made Selby pay 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. It left him an awkward red which he failed to convert and Higgins stepped in for a 100 clearance.

It was the 65th century of the tournament - only three short of the record of 68 set at the Crucible in 2002. Selby had to stop the rot and he looked favourite when a break of 40 helped him into a 61-23 lead. But he failed to negotiate a Higgins snooker behind the green which left his opponent an easy opening red and a 47 clearance sealed the frame and meant a pre-interval whitewash.

Selby looked drained which was unsurprising after his marathon quarter-final and semi-final clashes with Ali Carter and Shaun Murphy. His only saving grace was a superb 116 in frame five which was his 11th hundred of the tournament - more than anyone else.

Higgins had achieved one major objective before entering the arena with having regained the top spot in the rankings for the 2007-08 campaign ahead of last year's world champion Graeme Dott and number three Murphy.

The Scot is the fifth player to have regained the number one berth after Ray Reardon, Stephen Hendry, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams - with the 31-year-old last in the number one position for the 1999-2000 season. Selby, who is assured of 11th spot in the new rankings irrespective of the result of the final, was the third qualifier to be contesting the final after Terry Griffiths in 1979 and Shaun Murphy two years ago.

After his shaky start, Higgins appears to be living up to his tag of odds-on favourite.