John Higgins wins Scottish Professional Snooker Championship 2011 – Snooker news
John Higgins won the title match of the Scottish Professional Snooker Championship 2011 against Anthony McGill by a score line of 6-1 at the Lucky Break Snooker Club in Clydebank, Glasgow on Thursday.
The world number one has been in terrific form in the ongoing 2011 season.
The Wizard of Wishaw became the first champion of the Scottish Professional tournament in 22 years after an outstanding performance in the title match against the youngster Anthony McGill, who was hoping for an upset victory but could not make it in the
end.
Higgins opened the first frame and fired a sensational century clearance of 106 to get off the mark.
The former three-time world champion capitalised over a mistake made by McGill on a tricky black and raced to a 2-0 lead in the game after he took the scrappy second frame 81-57. McGill tried his hard to pull level in the match but failed to handle Higgins’
brilliant shots.
35-year-old Higgins was unstoppable during the play and the spectators were cheering for him by clapping on every ball he potted. A superb 83 clearance in the third frame took Higgins to a frame winning score of 83-1 and he moved to a three-frame lead in
the match-up at 3-0.
After the third frame ended in the favour of Higgins, it seemed that McGill was going to receive the same treatment from him like Hendry did in the semi-final- a whitewash. However, the 20-year-old cueist bounced back somehow and capitalised with a 40-point
break in the fourth frame to move one level up against Higgins at 3-1.
McGill pounced on the table hard in the fifth frame after the interval and took early lead to get his rhythm back but Higgins broke his hopes with a stunning break of 62 as he came at the table. McGill kept searching for a snooker to trap Higgins but he
got no chance of it and the score board moved to 4-1.
After doing the damage in the previous five frames, the former champion returned to his playing style of building big breaks again and pocketed a sparking century knock of 108 in the sixth frame to sweep the table at 108-1. The score board read 5-1 in Higgins’
favour.
Higgins was one frame away from being the first winner of the Scottish Professional Championship in 22 years. McGill gave in his best to bounce back but hid luck did not favour him and Higgins cleared the table in a glance to ensure the title in the end
with the score line of 6-1.
Higgins is now completely ready to bang in the World Snooker Championship 2011 at the Crucible Theatre in less than a week. He will meet the Englishman Stephen Lee in his last-32 match of the mega event on Wednesday, 20 April, 2011.
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