The World Snooker final was, in the end, every bit as good and exciting as had been hoped. Young Judd Trump continued to thrill the crowd with his audacious potting, while John Higgins proved, as usual, to be a man it's very hard to beat.
Day one saw Higgins well below his best form while Trump potted balls from all angles and positions. Higgins clung on tenaciously but could be seen looking pretty rattled more than once. Somehow, he kept the score within bounds and was level at 7-7 before Trump took the last 3 frames of the day and looked as though he was beginning to get up a real head of steam.
Day two saw Higgins looking more settled and the pair shared the first 4 frames before, finally, Trump began to sink under the pressure of Higgins tenacity. From 9-12 behind, Higgins won 5 frames to lead 14-12 and he never looked back; although Trump continued to play some astonishing pots and drew level in frame 28, it was Higgins who was the more consistent and pulled away again to lead 17-15.
The final frame brought about one of the more memorable climaxes as Higgins, needing 2 4-point snookers to win, cleared the colours up to the blue and obtained a single snooker on the pink which Trump missed. Higgins then potted the very awkward pink left by Trump, before taking the black and the Crown.
This was a match that pitted age and experience against youth and daring; in the end, it was age and experience that, rightly, triumphed as Higgins grew stronger and played better as the match progressed, while Trump played more reckless shots and tended to lose position, relying more and more on his extraordinary potting to get him out of trouble. Sadly for him, he found out that this game is not just about potting.
This was Higgins' fourth World Title, a number beaten by only three players in the modern era, Ray Reardon, Steve Davis and Stephen Hendry. In this championship, he showed amazing resilience, coming back from losing positions against 2 other great players, Ronnie O'Sullivan and Mark Williams, before his exploits in the final, and has truly established himself as one of the greatest players in the game's history. After a traumatic year, this was almost a preordained victory and he could well win more titles yet.
While every snooker buff knew of John Higgins, Judd Trump was the discovery of the championship. His performances throughout the tournament, from his first round victory over last year's champion, Neil Robertson, to his epic semi-final against Ding Junhui, showed that this young man has well and truly arrived on the scene and will be a force for many years to come. While his positional play sometimes let him down, he will undoubtedly improve further and next year he could well be unstoppable. His manner in defeat was relaxed and gentlemanly and also did him much credit.
What a shame that we have to wait almost another full year for a repeat performance !
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