Higgins eases to his third world title

JOHN Higgins clinched his third Crucible title last night and claimed it was the best yet.

Higgins defeated Shaun Murphy 18-9 in the Betfred.com World Championship final, to follow up his victories in 1998 and 2007. Asked whether it felt better than those previous triumphs in Sheffield, Higgins said: "I think so.

"Each one has had its special place, but to win it a third time and elevate yourself just a little touch to being up there with the great champions like John Spencer, who have won it three times, it's a proud moment.

"To win it a third time is amazing."

Ronnie O'Sullivan has also won three world titles, while Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis and Ray Reardon are the only men to have known greater success.

Higgins dominated the final following a tight opening session. He moved from 4-4 to 11-5 ahead during Sunday evening's second session of the match, and only needed to consolidate that huge lead yesterday. "The second session was a big session," the 33-year-old Scot said. "That was the one that won it for me. I got a good run of the balls and won three or four close frames."

Before the tournament began, O'Sullivan had stated that he or Higgins would be champion if they produced their best snooker. O'Sullivan crashed out in round two, but Higgins kept his focus throughout a difficult run of matches. Higgins said: "Ronnie does say a lot of stupid things sometimes but he also says a lot of clever things as well and I suppose that was one of his more clever statements, that if he wasn't going to win it I was going to win it."

Twice Higgins was almost knocked out in the earlier rounds, having to come back from the brink of defeat to beat both Jamie Cope and Mark Selby. "That gave me an enormous boost of confidence coming into the final," Higgins said.

"I knew if I could come through those three matches I was going to give Shaun a good match. Before the tournament I knew my form was really close to being there and thank God it was."

Higgins has given up alcohol this year but admitted his victory might warrant a drink. "I've not touched a drop since Christmas. I might have a couple of glasses of champagne now," he said.

He dedicated victory to his family, who joined him on the floor after the trophy was clinched with a break of 73.

"It means everything to win it for them," he said. "That's what you dream about. To do that this year with my children and my wife here is great."

At 33, and with his 34th birthday coming up on May 18, Higgins is one of the older players at the top of the game. Winning his second world title in 2007 has given him greater mental strength than he had previously, no doubt a factor in those tight finishes this year. "I feel a lot more controlled at the table," Higgins said. "In the past few years I've been trying to prove doubters wrong. But the second world title took pressure off me."

Murphy, who won the UK Championship in December, rued his failure to take several frame-winning chances during yesterday afternoon's session.

The Northamptonshire-born cueman described Higgins as "a great champion" and "the game's greatest ever tactician".

But he was convinced he could have turned the match around, despite Sunday night's obvious disappointment of losing seven out of eight frames. He lost the afternoon session 5-3, though, to leave Higgins on the brink of victory. "I firmly believed I could do it and I could have won all eight frames this afternoon," Murphy said. "I had a chance in every frame and if I'm being hyper-critical of myself I missed a couple of balls I shouldn't have done.

"You can't give somebody like Higgins that sort of head start and expect to compete, particularly when you're playing the game's greatest ever tactician."

Murphy added: "It will take me some time to get over the fact I've lost. I just spoke to my dad and he said, 'How are you?'. I said, 'It isn't nice losing here. I don't want to go through that again'."