John Higgins beats Joe O'Connor at World Open to win first title in four years

Jonhn Higgins of Scotland defeated giant slayer Joe O'Connor of England 10-6 in the World Snooker Tour (WST) World Open final in Shangrao, east China's Jiangxi Province, on Saturday, winning his first ranking title in four years.

As a four-time world champion, Higgins hadn't won any ranking tournament since the Players Championship in 2021. At 49, he was the oldest ranking event finalist since 1986. O'Connor, who is 20 years younger than "The Wizard of Wishaw," knocked out world No. 1 Judd Trump and new Triple Crown winner Shaun Murphy on his way to the final.

The first frame was lengthy and dramatic before Higgins clinched it 66-63. Having built his momentum with the result, he then claimed five of the following seven frames of the first session and led 6-2.

O'Connor tried to launch rally in the second session and made a break of 71, his highest in the contest, in the 10th frame. Leading 9-6 after 15 frames, Higgins ended the battle with a break of 100, the only century in the final.

The victory put an end to Higgins' five-ranking-event-final losing streak and brought him his 32nd ranking title of his career.

"I'm just delighted. I am drained, there has been a lot of nervous energy in the last couple of days. I am dead proud to win another big event at this age," Higgins said after winning his fourth ranking title in China. "I didn't know if I was going to win another event because I have taken so many devastating losses over the last three or four years. To come back and win this is a proud moment."

"Joe didn't play his best today, having been unbelievable all week," Higgins added. "He didn't have the same game he had against Shaun, Judd and Ali. The first frame was massive because he had a chance to win it on the last black and if he had gone 1-0 up he would have taken confidence. I kept him under pressure, my safety was pretty good all day. He's a great all-round player but just didn't turn up today, he'll come again I'm sure."