A vintage display from John Higgins saw him thrash Chang Bingyu 9-2 and reach the final of the International Snooker Championship in Nanjing.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Scot has been despondent with his form so far this season, with this marking his first ranking run beyond the last 16. However, his decision to switch back from a titanium ferrule to a traditional brass one appears to have helped him rediscover his best form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Higgins is now one win away from a 34th ranking crown and his first since the 2025 Tour Championship in Manchester. Standing in his way tomorrow is Englishman Kyren Wilson, in a repeat of this year’s Masters final. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On that occasion Wilson prevailed 10-6, but it is Higgins who holds the edge in their head-to-head standings having won eight of their 12 meetings. Tomorrow they will cross cues over the best of 19 frames, with the winner scooping \u00a3175,000. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aged 51, Higgins would be snooker’s oldest ever ranking event winner if he is victorious tomorrow, pipping fellow Class of 92 member Mark Williams, who was 50 when he won last season’s Xi’an Grand Prix. The Glaswegian will also be aiming to extend an extraordinary sequence which has seen at least one member of the Class of 92 win a ranking title in each of the last 33 years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chang’s week ends on a humbling note, but the 24-year-old has once again produced some dazzling snooker. He fired in an incredible 13 centuries over the tournament. Having recently captured maiden silverware at the Wuhan Open, he will be full of confidence ahead of a big few weeks. He competes in the Champion of Champions next week and after breaking into the top 16, he will automatically qualify for the UK Championship as a seed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Higgins put on a dominant performance to end the afternoon session with a healthy 6-2 cushion, before carrying his momentum into the evening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A run of 110 in the opening frame made it 7-2 and dampened any hopes of a Chang comeback among the home fans. That was compounded when Higgins controlled the tenth frame and then got over the line by stealing the 11th on the black. That sees him through to his 61st ranking final. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It felt great. I missed just a couple of balls through the day but it felt good. It was one of those matches where you could have stayed out there playing all day,” said 33-time ranking event winner Higgins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I got zoned in on my own game because I knew the guy in the other chair was going to play to a high standard. If I didn’t play to a high standard I was never going to win. I concentrated on getting my game into good shape and it has been getting better and better. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“The game is a drug to every snooker player. You always think there could be a better performance round the corner and that is what everyone is hanging on to. At the start of the week I was miles down on the one-year list. I knew if I could get my game in better shape I could start moving up the way, so that is what I’m doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I had a good record against Kyren up until the year he won the World Championship, when he blitzed me at the Crucible. He blitzed me at the Masters this year really. He has the upper hand so I will try and arrest that slide.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A vintage display from John Higgins saw him thrash Chang Bingyu 9-2 and reach the final of the<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44],"tags":[378],"class_list":["post-17511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","tag-snooker"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t