John Higgins won his 33rd ranking title with a brilliant 10-8 victory over Mark Selby in the Tour Championship final on Sunday night, which he rates as his best ever triumph.
The Wizard of Wishaw won five frames on the spin to recover from 8-5 and get his hands on the trophy in Manchester, landing the £150,000 top prize.
It was a see-saw battle, with the Scot taking a 5-1 lead before losing seven frames on the bounce to trail and look in serious trouble, before recovering and powering to the winning line.
It was a stunning final, with both players knocking in four centuries and with his 50th birthday coming up next month, Higgins feels it is the best win of his epic career.
‘You are playing a monster of a player,’ Higgins said of Selby. ‘To be 5-1 up and to be frozen out to be 8-5 behind, you don’t come back and win five in a row against Mark Selby normally. I managed to do it, so it was incredible.
‘It is incredibly difficult. You are just hitting a brick wall and I’ve done it so many times against him over the years. He just plays incredible stuff. It was my best ever win.’
He added: ‘It is my best ever win. I was playing an unbelievable champion and he was looking like he was not going to miss, he was tying me up in knots. To do that against Mark gives me incredible belief that I can still mix it with the best players.’
Selby and Higgins first played professionally 20 years ago at the 2005 World Championship and the Englishman is full of respect for his fellow four-time world champ.
‘He’s incredible, isn’t he?’ Selby said. ‘That’s why he’s an all-time great. The way he played from 8-5 was incredible.
‘That was brutal from 8-5. My head was spinning some of the things that was going on. But taking nothing away from John, like I say every time he got his chance today he punished me.
‘I put it to him at 8-5 and he stood up like a warrior that he is.’
Things have turned around dramatically for Higgins in recent months after he slid out of the world’s top 16 earlier this season for the first time since 1995.
He quickly returned to the elite group by reaching the final of the British Open in September and then ended his four-year ranking title drought by winning the World Open at the start of March.
That win in Yushan has given him an enormous boost in confidence and the Wizard has been spell-binding since, with his performances in Manchester as good as any he has produced in years.
The 49-year-old will now head to the Crucible this month as world number three and one of the favourites to be lifting the World Championship trophy yet again.
However, he warned: ‘The World Championship is a different animal. I will just enjoy the next two weeks and then go to Sheffield and give it my all. I am very proud.’
Selby will also be among the favourites in Sheffield after a very impressive week which saw him beat Neil Robertson 10-1 and Ding Junhui 10-2 in an awesome display of scoring.
Both Selby and Higgins made 11 centuries over their Tour Championship campaigns, with the champion doing so in just three matches, one fewer than the runner-up.
The two men now have some time to prepare as they await the draw for the World Championship which will take place on April 17, with the action at the Crucible getting underway two days later.
MORE: Jimmy White rejuvenated by ADHD diagnosis, oxygen therapy and help from old rival
MORE: Ding Junhui reveals battle with himself: ‘Sometimes my brain flies out!’
MORE: Mark Selby speaks out on form ahead of ‘ultimate test’ at World Championship
