00:00The first of eight frames in this first session.
00:03Ten required to become champion and walk away with that cheque for £350,000.
00:09What an occasion, Dominic.
00:11And what a match we have in store.
00:14Absolutely, Phil. Very good afternoon, everybody.
00:16I'm really looking forward to this battle of the minds.
00:21Both these players very strong mentally.
00:24Kyan Wilson did incredibly well coming through that semi-final last night.
00:29But I think if you're a believer in fate, then John Higgins is going to win this match.
00:34He's had a lot of luck at vital times in earlier matches.
00:38But he's played some fantastic snooker as well.
00:40His pot success ahead of this final, 92%.
00:52Well, perhaps an early opportunity here for Kyan Wilson.
00:55Maybe the red that John has just played is blocked by the pink, just about.
01:01But I'm just wondering about the two reds above the black, whether they could be a plant.
01:08Both of these players have had to go to the well to get to this final in the last two
01:11rounds.
01:24Well, some misses his early opportunity.
01:34John Higgins, 5-3 down to Xiao Xin Tong, one on the final black.
01:39And then in a similar predicament against Judd Trump, having started the match very shakily, 3-0 behind at one
01:46stage.
01:47It looked like being a procession for Trump.
01:53But he fought back superbly, took advantage of Trump's misground when he was clearing up for a 6-3 win.
02:09It's interesting though, Phil, isn't it?
02:11Both players have had identical paths through to the final.
02:14Both began with a 6-2 round one victory, followed by two 6-5 deciders.
02:32Yes, they're both amazing competitors.
02:42Wilson giving away 16 years to the great man, who was just a few months old when this great tournament
02:49was first staged in 1975.
02:51And John Spencer beat Ray Reardon on a re-spotted black.
03:11And he was still a teenager when he made his Masters debut and made the final, losing to O'Sullivan, whom,
03:20of course, he beat in one of the great finals 20 years ago with that wonderful clearance from the brink
03:26of defeat on the final black.
03:28Could we have similar drama today?
03:43Well, of course, Kyron hasn't won this great event.
03:47He's been a runner-up on two occasions, of course, last year when he lost to Murphy, but also in
03:562018.
03:56But it's been 20 years since John last won it.
04:00So both of these players will be equally desperate to get their hands on the trophy this year.
04:05And 15 years, as you can see, since Higgins won the last of those nine triple crown titles, his fourth
04:12world championship.
04:2214.
04:36I think what's interesting as well when you try and predict who's the likely winner of a final like this,
04:42you might think on current form and the way the season's gone so far that Kyron is justifiably a fractional
04:49favourite.
04:50But if you don't begin well, you fall a couple of frames behind early on and you can't get your
04:56side of the scoreboard rolling and you say 2-0 down, the mindset changes very quickly.
05:01And that positive expectation that you walk into the arena in suddenly disappears and all of a sudden you're on
05:08the back foot.
05:09So it's very important, the beginning of a final like this.
05:12Who starts the better?
05:19Brown ball.
05:25Yellow ball.
05:27Change of plan.
05:48Well, favourable run of the ball there, perhaps.
05:50That keyboard coming off the top cushion with checked side.
05:52A lot of spin and expand that red into a pottable position.
05:57Now, in potting this red, he's going to be canoning the two reds above it, which will bring the black
06:03spot into play, certainly.
06:05But can John judge the cannon from those two reds to be on possibly the pink to the right centre?
06:22Well, I'm amazed he played that with top spin.
06:24I thought he could have screwed off those two reds to be on that pink to the right centre.
06:28But John saw it a different way and, well, it hasn't worked out.
06:42Green ball.
06:44Green ball.
06:54John Higgins, 22.
07:03Higgins leads the overall head-to-head eight victories to three.
07:08But, undoubtedly, the most important win for Wilson against Higgins was on his way to the world title in 2024.
07:20Because he'd been schooled the previous year, thrashed 13-2.
07:23So, to avenge that loss, a real game-changer for Wilson.
07:30Of course, he went on to lift the world championship and has grown as a player since then.
07:36Four ranking titles last season as world champion.
08:00And nearly a mistake from John there.
08:02He tried to come off a side cushion and flip the red towards the blue, which he's done.
08:07But he actually just fractionally caught the red before the side cushion.
08:11And it may be possible, into this top left-hand corner,
08:15Kyron could screw across the side of the table for position on blue or brown.
08:21So, it's the sort of pop that he does take on.
08:26Oh, but a long way off.
08:35Wilson, who finished against Will Yuzza with a century.
08:39His sixth of the tournament, more than anyone else.
08:42And what a display, yet again, of resilience it was.
08:46From the very brink of defeat, Will Yuzza had the chance to close it out.
08:49Mr Redd to the right corner.
08:52But Wilson conjured a quite superb clearance of 46 to force the decider.
08:58And finished in style.
09:08So, Higgins back in.
09:13And this time, he has a wonderful chance to wrap up victory in this first frame.
09:18The black's available.
09:20As is its own spot.
09:22So, that will clear things a little bit.
09:24There's a couple of reds.
09:26Just the right of the pink spot that will pop to the right corner.
09:34And John would be disappointed not to win the first frame from here,
09:38given the fact that he's already 30 points to the good.
10:04Nine.
10:06Nine.
10:07Nine.
10:37The Masters final, her second Triple Crown final, having officiated the 2024 UK Championship title match between Trump and Hawkins.
11:0216.
11:25Just a little more backspin on the cue ball than intended there has left him further away from this red.
11:31Now, the bottom red doesn't look to me as though it pots.
11:34It's the one in the middle of that little group of five.
11:39But can he control the cue ball for position on the colour?
11:42It's not guaranteed.
11:43That's why John wanted to be closer to the red than he is.
11:5824.
11:59I think, why is he playing the more difficult of the pots, the thinner cuts of the left corner for
12:04positional reasons?
12:05And now, he's back in perfect position.
12:2029.
12:3630.
12:42So, just this black and one more red required.
12:45The victory in frame one, barring Snookers.
12:52I think there's been a more relaxed air around John Higgins at this Masters.
12:58And he himself has said that he's tried to take the pressure off, be a little less intense.
13:05Sometimes it can mean too much.
13:06Karen Wilson sitting this first frame out, it would seem.
13:09Had a chance early.
13:10Mr. Red to the right centre.
13:17But he didn't panic after that poor start against Trump in the semis.
13:22And he was really a bystander in trailing 3-0.
13:28Winning the fourth was all important.
13:32And then, of course, refused to buckle when he trailed 5-3.
13:38And for the second round running, he was rewarded.
13:5044.
13:52And I think John will be keen here to try and shut Karen Wilson out of this first frame.
13:57And not allow him any table time.
14:01Of course, both players were allowed to practice on this table ahead of play this afternoon.
14:06But this is the match now and things are different.
14:11The table will have been brushed and ironed again.
14:1952.
14:2052.
14:2252.
14:2352.
14:49A confident start to the Masters final from one of the greats of all time going for the
14:56hat-trick.
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