World Snooker Championship 2011: John Higgins wins fourth title as Judd Trump captures Crucible crowd

It was a tournament that ushered in a new era for the sport but it was an old master who had the final say.

World Snooker Championships 2011: John Higgins wins fourth title as Judd Trump captures Crucible crowd
Epic battle: John Higgins had to use all his resolve to hold off young pretender Credit: Photo: GETTY IMAGES

A year to the day after a newspaper sting threatened to leave his career in ruins, John Higgins swept aside the challenge of the flamboyant Judd Trump to claim his fourth title at the Betfred.com World Championship.

Higgins, who suffered the added trauma of the death of his father in February, broke down in tears before receiving the silver trophy and a winner’s cheque of £250,000.

“It’s been an unbelievable 12 months,” he said. “This title is by far the biggest and best I’ve won without question.” The result may not have been the conclusion many of the partisan Crucible audience craved, having cheered Trump to the rafters during last night’s compelling final session, though the Scot was thoroughly deserving of his 18-15 victory.

The turning point came in the afternoon session when, having trailed his 21 year-old opponent 10-7 overnight, Higgins won six of the eight frames to take a 13-12 advantage into the final session.

Modestly, Higgins said Judd had deserved to win the title and had been the better player over the two days, and he predicted a brilliant future for the young man from Bristol after 17 days of quite extraordinary attacking play.

“It’s just an unbelievable feeling to beat Judd like that,” he said. “He played of brand of snooker I’ve never seen in my life. I was frightened to death to put play safe because I just knew he was going to knock in a long one, and the way he knocks them in is just incredible.

“I don’t know know how I won because he was the better player of the two days. I think maybe the third session when I got back at him was important.

“At 10-7 down I wasn’t playing well enough to win but luckily for me I managed to make it interesting in the evening and then I managed to hold it together.”

Incredibly, last night’s triumph was Higgins sixth tournament victory since he returned from his six-month suspension in November after being found guilty of bringing the sport into disrepute for failing to report an approach to throw matches for money. He was cleared of the more serious charge of match-fixing after claiming he had been intimidated into agreeing to accept money and had no intention to follow it through, though the stain on his character remains.

He was given an uncomfortable reminder of the controversy midway through his semi-final with Mark Williams when a spectator shouted that he was a “disgrace”.

But no one can argue with his quality as a snooker player, particularly in a matchplay situation when his back was against the wall. Despite never truly finding his A-game throughout the tournament, he stubbornly refused to lie down.

His collection of world titles has been bettered only by Stephen Hendry’s seven and Steve Davis’s six, and Higgins said his mission now was to equal Hendry’s record.

“I want to get seven,” he said. “I’ve won three in the last five years and I want to keep on winning it. I don’t see any reason why not. Obviously, there are people like Judd coming through now, but I’ve still got a few years left.” Trump, who goes home with a £125,000 runners-up cheque to the £60,000 he banked for winning the China Open a month ago, produced a dazzling array of long pots but, ironically, it was a missed easy pink when he had the 33rd frame at his mercy that brought the final coup de grace.

Higgins also missed a cut red into the middle and was left needing a snooker to avoid being taken to another frame. But with just two colours left on the table, he achieved it by nestling the cue ball behind the black and Trump’s fate was sealed when he missed the pink.

Both players admitted they were stunned by the frenzied atmosphere when they made their entrance into the arena, and Higgins said there was only one explanation.

“It was 100 times the best atmosphere I’ve ever been involved in and I think that’s got a lot to do with Judd because he’s going to be bringing in an army of fans because of the ways he plays.

“We’ve got a new star and I think all us oldies are going to be pushed aside, because he is the future.”