00:17Chas and Tong has just broken off and has really upped the ante back-to-back centuries from him.
00:23Seven in all for the tournament to lead. John Higgins, two up with three to play.
00:26Nine, seven. And the question is, you know, what has he got left in the tank?
00:35And, you know, a lot's been made of the fact that he'd be 51 soon.
00:39And he got to the final of the Masters brilliantly all the way through.
00:42And then in the final, he seemed to run out of gas against Kyron Wilson.
00:47You know, his fellow class of 92, man, got to the world final against...
00:54One, Zhao Jintong, and did the same, really. It was a much too many.
01:00While Higgins is struggling, Jintong may be just getting stronger.
01:06That's another wonderful pot from distance.
01:16He may be feeling a bit under the weather with that cough, but his snooker right now is in the
01:21rudest health.
01:31Well, is he on the red? It must be touch-and-go, that one.
01:37If he's touching the red that he's closest to, I suspect he won't be on it.
01:42Oh, that's a real tough one, isn't it?
01:46He's not a touching ball, so he might be able to sneak through.
01:50Sometimes with these, you don't know until, unfortunately, it's too late and you've played the shot.
01:54Yeah, that's fine.
01:56Six.
01:57See, that's the difference.
01:58About three frames ago, he'd have been buried on that red.
02:01Not on anything, but, you know, when you hit a bit of form,
02:05the little rubs go your way instead of against you.
02:22It's going to have to be a red up into the green pocket, I think, to keep this break alive.
02:50Fourteen.
02:51Fourteen.
02:57Another great pot.
03:00Fourteen.
03:02His eye is well and truly in now, fresh from those back-to-back centuries.
03:16Nineteen.
03:18Nineteen.
03:29Twenty.
03:33Well, this shot is going to tell us a lot more as to the fate of the frame and maybe
03:37the match,
03:38because if he gets the cannon in potting this black, he could be well away.
03:46It's a nice split, although he's not on the simplest of continuation reds.
03:50He's one to middle.
03:52Right middle.
03:53Twenty-seven.
03:54And the one he's very close to.
04:00Right middle.
04:02If he wasn't queuing over that other ball, it would be okay, but he doesn't have a lot of freedom.
04:07He's going to have to be this close one, and Marcel Eckhart just watching over it.
04:15It's a perfectly legal shot.
04:17A couple of nice numbers all of a sudden.
04:21It's an onslaught, isn't it?
04:23At the moment, from the world champion, John Higgins, hasn't potted a ball in the last two frames.
04:33There's a danger he may not pot another one in this final.
04:46Well, I'm not sure if he's on that right-hand road of the two.
04:50That would be end of match, I think.
04:52There seems to be just always one more shot to play at the moment,
04:55and if it's read up into a bolt pocket, then it's a tricky one.
05:02Whether we would just pop this and play on the pink close-up, I don't know.
05:07It's like he's going back towards the black.
05:1036.
05:11I think we're at the point where the end is nigh in this match, it seems.
05:17He's got that glint in his eye again now, hasn't he?
05:20At times this evening, he's looked below par.
05:23He's missed a few he wouldn't normally.
05:2743.
05:28The great champions sense the moment to strike,
05:31and Zhao Zintong has done exactly that.
05:4144.
05:46But has that gone wrong?
05:47Well, I mean, he's got the blue, but I mean,
05:50he seemed to be queuing a little bit.
05:51He's not on that pink, by the way.
05:54Queuing a little bit higher on that.
05:56I thought he could have got into the keble more,
05:59and then this blue all of a sudden is another challenge for him.
06:07If he passes...
06:08No, he's made that little bit heavy weather of this break.
06:12I mean, if I'm allowed to say that,
06:14because it was mostly brilliant what he's doing here.
06:16But he's just not getting on the balls perfectly.
06:22John Higgins craning his neck to watch that one disappear,
06:26wondering if he'll get a further opportunity in this match.
06:29It was looking good for Higgins at 7'6",
06:32even though he wasn't playing at his peak.
06:34He seemed to be in control of things out there.
06:39But that's been snatched away from him in pretty rapid fashion.
06:5055.
06:53Not too much more to do to get his hands on the trophy.
07:0156.
07:04Well, we've waited a long time today, haven't we?
07:06You know, we build him up at the start.
07:08If you haven't seen much of him play,
07:10I mean, obviously, as a world champion, you probably have.
07:12But, you know, all of a sudden,
07:15you're seeing what we've been seeing
07:16and why he's doing what he's doing in the game.
07:19Because just when he needed something big,
07:23he's done it.
07:23And now a red in a high-value colour from here,
07:27and he wins it.
07:28But, again, he's slightly in between shots,
07:32so he's going to have to pull out a good one.
07:34The red to middle.
07:35Did he miss one of these earlier in this pocket?
07:40Not this time.
07:42So the flag.
07:43Frame ball.
07:46Players' championship ball.
07:48Ball.
08:10They stay down a little mini.
08:11He's all like a little celebratory.
08:15Standing over the shot for a bit longer than he really needed to.
08:2471.
08:27What a finish this has been to the final from Zhao Zintong.
08:31Not always at his best today.
08:34But he's produced some champagne snooker when it was most required
08:38to pull away from the great John Higgins.
08:4478.
08:48Now he can relax and enjoy the victory lap.
08:53It's been amazing, isn't it, how he's turned this on.
08:56Just like turning on a tap, isn't it?
08:58He's just the right...
08:5885.
08:59Knock in a barrage of big breaks here to win this.
09:0386.
09:04It'd be nice if he'd made another century, wouldn't it?
09:07What a player.
09:09What a player.
09:10Yeah.
09:10You're not wrong.
09:12And I'm sure John Higgins will be the first to congratulate him warmly
09:17because this has been too good.
09:18Higgins, as you would expect, the great champion that he is,
09:22has competed well.
09:23And at 7'6 up, it was looking very favourable for him,
09:26but he couldn't have legislated for this first of brilliance.
09:31The world champion, Zhao Zintong,
09:33becomes the 2026 players champion.
09:37What a finale from him.
09:39Back-to-back centuries and a frame-winning break.
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