Higgins Denies Trump Again

John Higgins beat Judd Trump in the final for the second time this season to win the Kay Suzanne Memorial Trophy in Gloucester.
 
Wizard of Wishaw Higgins scored a 4-2 victory over Bristol's Trump in the Players Tour Championship event at the South West Snooker Academy to land the £10,000 top prize plus 2,000 ranking points.
 
Just two months ago in China, Higgins came from 7-2 down to beat Trump 10-9 in the final of the Shanghai Masters. Trump went on to win the International Championship and climb to No 1 in the world, but still can't get revenge on four-time World Champion Higgins, who also beat Trump in the 2011 Crucible final.
 
Trump started tonight's final strongly with a break of 102, his tenth century of the tournament. Higgins levelled with a 97 then Trump regained the lead. Higgins got the better of a scrappy fourth frame then stole the fifth on the colours to go ahead. And he sealed victory with a 62 in the next.
 
"Judd missed a couple of balls in the final and I played well," said 37-year-old Higgins, who failed to win a trophy last season but now has two to his name this term. "It's always great to win a tournament, especially beating Judd in the final.
 
"I struggled at times today and won three matches 4-3, the conditions were difficult so I just had to scrap through, but I played better in the final. We've got some big events like the UK Championship and the Masters coming up so it's good to build some confidence."
 
But Higgins wrote off his chances of taking the top spot in the rankings from Trump this season. "I've got a lot of points coming off because of the titles I won two years ago, so it's not a realistic goal," he said. "If I can put myself in a good position it will be something to aim for next year."
 
The event was named in memory of Kay Suzanne, who sadly died from breast cancer, and players wore pink shirts throughout to raise awareness and funds for Breast Cancer Care.
 
The Players Tour Championship is a series of ten events, four in the UK and six on the Betfair European Tour, with the top 25 on the final Order of Merit going through to the Grand Finals in March. They will be joined by seven players from the Asian PTC Order of Merit. The next event is Betfair European Tour event four, the Bulgarian Open, from November 16-18 in Sofia.
 
Results (Last 16 onwards)
 
Last 16
Mark Selby 4-3 Tony Drago
Anthony Hamilton 4-1 Michael Wasley
Ian Burns 3-4 Barry Hawkins
John Higgins 4-3 Steve Davis
Mark Joyce 4-2 Dechewat Poomjaeng
Thanawat Tirapongpaiboon 3-4 Judd Trump
Graeme Dott 1-4 Mark Williams
Ding Junhui 4-0 Kyren Wilson
 
Quarter-finals
Mark Selby 3-4 Anthony Hamilton
Barry Hawkins 3-4 John Higgins
Mark Joyce 2-4 Judd Trump
Mark Williams 2-4 Ding Junhui
 
Semi-finals
Anthony Hamilton 3-4 John Higgins
Judd Trump 4-1 Ding Junhui
 
Final
John Higgins 4-2 Judd Trump