British Open 2024: Mark Selby beats John Higgins to claim first ranking title win since March 2023 with return to form
Published 29/09/2024 at 22:39 GMT+1
Mark Selby won the 23rd ranking title of his career with victory over John Higgins in the final of the British Open. Selby, who was runner-up a year ago at the tournament, won the last three frames in a row to secure a 10-5 win over Higgins, whose run to the final will see him return to the top 16 in the snooker rankings. Selby made two century breaks and six half-century breaks in the final.
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Mark Selby won the British Open for the first time as he showed signs of returning to top form with a 10-5 victory over John Higgins in the final.
Four-time world champion Selby pocketed the last three frames in a row as he secured the 23rd ranking title of his career and first since March 2023.
Selby made two century breaks and six half-century breaks in the final.
Despite losing in the final, Higgins is set to return to the top 16 in the world rankings after dropping out for the first time since April 1995.
Higgins trailed 5-3 after the first session and soon cut the lead to one in the evening session as he took a lengthy opening frame.
Higgins had a chance in the next frame but missed a black to the corner to allow Selby to the table.
Selby couldn’t clear up but opened up a 63-24 lead, which proved enough as Higgins couldn’t fight back.
Higgins again spurned an opportunity in the 11th frame as from 34-0 ahead, he ran out of position and Selby extended his lead with a break of 85.
The Scot did take his chance in the last frame before the mid-session interval, a fine double helping him into a frame-winning advantage.
With the match finely poised at 7-5, the first frame of the final session looked pivotal – and it was Selby who took it to close in on victory.
A foul from Higgins when he hit the black instead of the red opened the balls for Selby and he did enough to take the frame.
Selby then knocked in a break of 91 to move one away from the win and he finished with a flourish with a match-winning break of 93.
How SELBY EDGED opening session
Selby won the opening frame of the final earlier in the day with a pivotal break of 63 after he opened the door for himself by potting a superb red. This came after an important break of 37 at the start of the frame.
The response from Higgins was impressive, as the Wizard of Wishaw capitalised on Selby's missed long pot into the bottom left pocket and was subsequently in a fine position on the black.
An impressive break came to an end at 80, after he missed a red to the middle pocket.
A red-black combination had presented Higgins with an opportunity to take the lead for the first time, and despite a brief setback, a brilliant pot sealed a 2-1 advantage.
The Jester restored parity once again, though, and managed to negotiate an awkward looking table with a brilliant break of 69, which finished with one red which did not quite head into the bottom right corner.
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Both players were on top form, and the pendulum swung back in Selby's favour with a wonderful break of 137 to claim the first century of this final and take a 3-2 lead in the process.
Selby was looking in ominous form when he punished Higgins for a poor safety shot and landed a brilliant red-blue combination on his way to a sizeable break of 88.
This final had a wonderful ebb and flow, as Higgins responded in a quickfire fashion with an excellent break of 104 to claim his first century of an absorbing contest at 4-3.
Selby was in no mood to hang about, though, and re-established his two-frame advantage before the afternoon interval with a sublime break of 135.
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