00:04and it's out who gets us underway eight frames in this session not the best break off
00:12but it looks like he's covered that red that's come up the table neil folds alongside me
00:17it's been a fascinating week of snooker neil and we've got a final to savor yeah what a contrast
00:23with john higgins bidding to become the oldest winner of a ranking event which of course is
00:30handed around between the class of 92 it seems over the last few years i think it could be the
00:35next person in possession against the world champion the future of the game let's be honest
00:42jazin tong
00:48well you saw a grimace on higgins face there and that's going to be one of the keys to this
00:52final
00:53we know how brilliant this man is from distance and if you leave him chances like this
00:59highly likely he'll be taking them and as i say that he's missed one which by his standards was
01:05pretty routine from long range well one thing i will say is it's become a slightly slow starter in
01:11these matches you know he's managed to sort of pick himself up and beat really good match players
01:16sometimes from behind he did it to mark selby in the event in hong kong world grand prix he was
01:22behind
01:23all the way yesterday against mark allen so he doesn't always immediately turn it on
01:34so john will certainly need to do something a bit lively early on i think he needs to
01:41be in a position where he's at least all level or in front of course going into this evening if
01:46he
01:46falls behind it could be one-sided i can't see higgins could win it one-sidedly not really not
01:52everything we've seen
02:03i'm sure he was paying special attention to that pink it was an easy pot but he missed a number
02:08of
02:09them into that pocket yesterday not least match ball against judd trump seven when he looked as
02:13though he'd missed his chance to get to this final and then in the final frame trump missed a red
02:18that
02:18was unexpected and higgins regrouped it must be said extremely well with a break of 65
02:26to get over the line
02:29it was a real roller coaster in the end but he played the better snooker of the two without a
02:36doubt
02:36his second straight win over trump
02:45having lost 14 of the previous 15 against the world number one
03:00eight in terms of the two players history against one another higgins leads the head-to-head seven to
03:07four this is their third meeting this year
03:16he can speech out on his way to the masters final in the quarters and that went the distance six
03:21five
03:21and jout returned the compliment on his way to the world grand prix title in hong kong a couple of
03:27weeks
03:27weeks ago five three in the first round
03:31yes it sticks in my mind that game in the masters because really i thought jout jintong
03:36i'm gonna say was the better player i mean how can the better player lose but
03:39he was five three up and i thought he was a little
03:44unfortunate higgins took advantage and got the win
03:46but the other thing in my mind is that
03:48higgins played tremendously well at the alley pali in the masters but the final was a bridge too far
03:53it seemed he didn't play as well anywhere near
03:5612th against kyle wilson
03:59and now
04:00he's got to go that
04:01a little bit further
04:02in his 51st year
04:05you know we've got the same kind of scenario here
04:12against more youthful opponent
04:16but you wouldn't put anything beyond john higgins
04:19and that is a terrific shot
04:24and with that masters final in mind i'm sure higgins would have been grateful for the evening off
04:29because he said he felt drained after the trump match it was a roller coaster in the end
04:33very dramatic finish
04:35so to have a few hours just to regroup
04:39and hopefully from his point of view get a decent night's sleep
04:41feel refreshed for this final all important for him
04:46turns 52 in may
04:49that's not great though
04:5018
04:51that is i mean of all the places to land
04:56one of the worst you could think of at the
05:01blue downwards end of the table
05:03how has he ended up there
05:06i'm assuming he just played onto the pink to the right corner
05:10overcooked it
05:10so that'll be a big disappointment
05:14as i say i think he got to put his stamp on this match early
05:16and he had an opportunity to there
05:25a few shots at the start of the best of 19
05:28do not win or lose your match
05:30but like i say in the case i think he really needs to start well
05:36because
05:36Xiao Xin Tong is
05:37well
05:39he's won the last event
05:40he's brimming with confidence
05:43beating seasoned match players
05:49he's also won all four ranking finals he's been in
05:55but that's not gone to plan
05:58so a couple of missteps from Xiao
06:00at the start of this final
06:02missed the long red which
06:05ordinarily would pot
06:07and Higgins positional misstep has not cost him
06:11dreadful safety shot wasn't it
06:13and there were a few of those yesterday
06:15similar shots that
06:17gave mark ellen
06:20an early in in a frame
06:32one
06:34mark williams was 50 years and 206 days
06:37when he beat sean murphy this season to win the jean grand prix title
06:41and in the process
06:43became the oldest ranking event winner
06:45as mentioned Higgins turns 51 in may
06:48so he can eclipse that record today
06:51he's already the oldest finalist
06:53since
06:54rex williams
06:55way back in 1986
06:57when he lost to jimmy white
07:00in the title match
07:01he was 53 at the time
07:24seven
07:39eight
07:40so he's
08:2613
08:3514
08:39so I don't think the black being
08:40on the cushion will
08:41overly inconvenience John at this stage
08:44he's just looking to chip away and
08:46get his afternoon off to a good start
08:49some reds
08:50in the middle of the table
08:52it's not the simplest of positional
08:54shots from blue to red though here
08:56some reds in the way
09:00he's played that ever so well
09:01he just had to pass those two reds
09:03which he's successfully done
09:0519
09:2220.
09:44Yes, that pink ball was not his friend yesterday.
09:48I mean, the pink he missed to win 6-4.
09:51It was the pink that was on the blue spot,
09:53and he only wanted the pink,
09:55and he was playing off the cushion up for the yellow.
09:58I don't think it would be wrong to say one in 100 missed.
10:04That's probably all it would be.
10:06And that was the one time he did miss it.
10:12He actually seemed pretty distracted throughout that break.
10:15He was quite hesitant, even though the reds seemed perfectly set,
10:20and was looking at the scoreboard a fair bit.
10:22Some suggestion there was a problem with the scoreboard.
10:26Maybe it wasn't showing the right score,
10:27which just affected his concentration a bit.
10:30But the way in which he was able to regroup in the final frame
10:35was very impressive,
10:36because he must have been on the floor at the end of that frame
10:39that he lost on the black to Trump.
10:41I suppose he was a bit lucky to get the chance to, wasn't he?
10:43Because Trump got himself in a winning position in the match in that frame
10:47and missed an easy ball when he was queuing slightly awkwardly.
10:52Probably another one in 100 miss, actually.
10:54So there you are.
10:55That's what pressure does to these great players.
10:57They missed balls that he wouldn't expect.
11:01Yeah, and he was furious about it, Trump.
11:03He wrapped the table with his knuckles.
11:04He was absolutely incandescent that he'd missed the chance to steal the match
11:10that, to be honest, he was second best in throughout the afternoon.
11:14He didn't play well, Trump.
11:15He only made one half century.
11:16Anyway, that's all history now.
11:19It's all about today, and Higgins is making a positive start here.
11:3132.
11:4033.
11:44Yes, I mentioned that Xiao Xin Tong can start slowly.
11:47He's played two pretty poor shots, let's be honest.
11:49I mean, his break-up wasn't great.
11:52He missed a red that he usually would knock in all day long
11:55at range, close to the pocket,
11:57and the safety shot was a bit of a mess, actually.
12:03Just crept in, and any colour with this next red,
12:07and it will be first blood to John Higgins.
12:2040.
12:2240.
12:41The other thing Higgins can do today
12:43is become the 14th different ranking event winner
12:46in 14 tournaments this season.
12:52Charles and Tong, of course, won the World Grand Prix
12:54in the build-up to this.
13:08I thought we'd probably come to an end this week
13:11because this tournament is basically
13:12for most of the winners this season.
13:15There aren't many players that were in the players' chat.
13:18They hadn't won this season.
13:19They wouldn't have been here in the first place,
13:21but he was one.
13:22So he'll win the first frame,
13:24and I suspect they'll concede.
13:26And the first frame.
13:27The world champion duly does concede the frame.
13:30A couple of mistakes from him.
13:32And John Higgins, the veteran,
13:35leads by frame to nil.
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