Judd Trump has beaten John Higgins 18-9 in the the final of the Betfred World Snooker Championship at the Crucible - catch up on all the action here.
Final score: John Higgins 9-18 Judd Trump
1950: Well, that's all from me folks. I'm almost lost for words at that performance from Trump and am just so pleased to have seen this huge talent now become the finished article. What a pleasure his play has been to witness this season. A sensational snooker player and a worthy world champion.
1945: Class from both players, on and off the table. Two brilliant snooker players, two champions of our sport. The mutual respect between the two players was obvious at the presentation and for Trump, the sky really is the limit. He could well go on to dominate the sport for years to come. For now, he is your 2019 World Snooker champion and I'll raise a glass to that!
with Sky Bet to win his first World Championship with Higgins
to pull off a comeback for the ages. You never know.
1348: For Higgins supporters, of which I am one having plumped for him at 22/1 in my outright preview here a couple of weeks ago, the fact he couldn't eke out a couple of those late frames last night when building early leads could prove to be the killer blow. You have to fear that he has left himself with too much to do against a player like Trump, one who is at the peak of his powers right now, but you can never write off the wizard.
1341: I'd be surprised if Higgins didn't produce some sort of a fightback today - he's too much of a warrior to let Trump run away this - but with the form Trump is showing, it might just be a case of damage limitation for Scot. If Higgins could somehow win today's first session, either 5-3 or 6-2, then at worst, he would be 15-10 behind going into tonight's final session. Higgins would still have a mountain to climb but Trump is entitled to feel the pressure when the winning line comes in sight. After all, he is on the cusp of becoming world champion for the very first time and against a player who has come from behind to beat him many times before.
1338: So what does today have in store then? Does Higgins have anything left in the tank to produce one of his famous comebacks or could Trump even have this wrapped up with a session to spare? He'd need to win six of the eight frames to be played this afternoon but don't rule that out.
1335: Just in case you missed it, here's a taster of what Higgins was up against last night. A simply outrageous pot from Trump.
Trump and
Higgins. I'd favour the latter at the prices but I would say that given I plumped for Higgins at 22/1 in my pre-tournament
outright preview and have been rooting for him ever since.
Each-way insurance takes the pressure off a little but fingers crossed he can finish the job. What a wonderful tournament he has had.
1845: Good evening folks. Richard Mann reporting for duty ahead of what could prove to be a hugely-vital second session of the World Snooker Championship final between John Higgins and Judd Trump.
The players are currently locked together at 4-4 after a brilliant opening session that featured four century breaks and saw both players lead at different stages of the afternoon.
As it is, the match is perfectly poised with nine frames to be played tonight. One man will find themselves in the driving seat by the end of the evening and you suspect that Trump, in particular, will be desperate for that man to be him.
As we have seen already over the past few weeks, Higgins is almost peerless when big Crucible matches go down to the wire and given Trump's modest recent record against the four-time world champion, he will no doubt be keen to build up a healthy lead if possible.
For Higgins, the above points all stand and he will be mindful not to give perennial fast-starter Trump too much rope.
It makes for another fascinating night at the Crucible.
1648: And that is that. An enthralling opening session of this year's World Snooker Championship final comes to an end with John Higgins and Judd Trump locked together at 4-4.
We have seen some outstanding snooker this afternoon with both players making a pair of century breaks, Trump racing out of the traps to take a 3-1 lead before Higgins produced his best snooker of the season to win three frames on the bounce.
Trump replied in typically fearless fashion to ensure honours are even ahead of tonight's nine-frame second session but I suspect it will be Higgins who will be the happier of the two having finally found the form he has been searching for all year.
If he didn't already, Trump will now know he needs to scale a huge mountain if he is to be crowned world champion on Monday.
Sky Bet still favour Trump at with Higgins available at . Higgins looks to have the slight edge for me but this could easily develop into a classic - let's hope so.
I'll be back at 1845 with play resuming at 1900. Please do join me then.
Frame eight - 4-103 (103)
1643: The break ends on 103 and the players shake hands. Wonderful stuff.
1642: Great character being shown by Trump here and plenty of class, too. Lovely pot on the red and the blue follows to bring up the fourth century break of the session.
1640: Trump goes past 60 and we will be all-square at the end of an outstanding first session of this World Championship final. Can he finish with a century?
1637: Great chance for Trump and he negotiates a tricky red when playing right handed. First-class response from the reigning Masters champion.
1635: Trump can't get control of the white but seems intent on all-out attack. He won't die wondering.
1632: Higgins in first again in the final frame of the afternoon but can't pot a tricky red to the bottom corner pocket. Trump needs a response.
Frame seven - 101-0 (101)
1629: Get ready for it Virgo...'TON UP!' he roars. Higgins inches in front thanks to a brilliant break of 101 but still isn't happy with himself having failed to clear the table courtesy of a missed pot on the green. What a turnaround from Higgins who could barely make a 30 break in the first two sessions of his semi-final against Dave Gilbert.
1626: Higgins up to 68 already and closing in on a 4-3 lead. Flawless stuff from the wizard.
1625: 195 points without reply from Higgins. And counting.
1623: Another well-judged split from Higgins to open up a few more reds. A trademark lick of the lips from four-time world champion as he goes about his business. You could hear a pin drop in the Crucible.
1620: Trump misses from distance by a whisker. The red hangs in the jaws and Higgins follows with a brilliant cut-back black which splits the reds beautifully.
to lift the trophy with Sky Bet. Still early days, though. Do get in touch if you wish with any questions or details of any live bets on the action. Drop me an e-mail at Richard.Mann@pbc88.org or my twitter handle is @Richard_Mann11.
Frame two - 45-72 (63)
1452: Trump gets a snooker back and that's enough to close out the frame. 2-0 Trump but boy that was engrossing. You sense Higgins is going to make Trump work for everything over the next two days.
1452: Higgins playing some fabulous safety here and Trump is doing well to keep him at arms length. Tense.
1447: Higgins gets another snooker but a poor follow-up safety allows Trump to pot the brown from distance. This feels like a big frame already. Higgins back at the table now chasing another snooker.
1446: Higgins gets the snooker, and a good one, which Trump can't escape from. Higgins loses the white from the green so more safety.
1444: Higgins pots red and blue, meaning one four-point snooker is only good enough for a tie. What does the wizard have up his sleeve?
1441: Trump breaks down on 63 but Higgins returns to the table needing a snooker.
1439: Trump racing around the table. 33 and counting and these are ominous early signs for Higgins.
1436: Only 26. Higgins unlucky when splitting the pack and leaving himself with a tricky pot to middle that he misses. Trump back at the table.
1433: Higgins finds a brilliant red to the yellow pocket. What damage can he do?
1430: A stalemate so far here with both players forced to retreat behind the black or into the pack. No sign of a re-rack just yet.
1427: Higgins some way away with his shot-to-nothing attempt but no damage done.
Frame one - 1-66 (51)
1425: A break of 51 comes to an end but it's enough to hand Trump the early lead.
1424: Trump passes 50 at this visit and the first frame is all but his.
1420: Trump finds another fabulous red from distance and this time he's got the white where he wants it. Good chance, this. His long game looks in good working order which hasn't always been the case in the last week or so.
1417: Another miss from Trump, another tough one in truth. Both players taking just a moment to warm to their task. Understandably so.
1416: Trump splits the reds but still plenty of work to do here.
1415: Higgins needs to start well you feel - Trump won't be as easy to peg back as those that have come before.
1414: Trump misses from distance, just. Higgins doesn't but just loses the white and can't pot the following brown to middle.
1412: Higgins breaks off.
1410: Trump is in the arena. Now Higgins. This atmosphere is something else. LET'S GO!
1408: We're nearly ready. Rob Walker doing his stuff. This is it. Can Higgins last home or will fatigue at the end of this marathon test cost him yet again? Can he, from somewhere, find one last knockout punch or will this be the year when Trump finally becomes champion of the world? You couldn't grumble either way could you? Two brilliant sportsmen but there can be only one winner.
1400: We're only minutes away from the start now and I'm beginning to feel a few nerves, not least because Higgins was my only bet in my pre-tournament outright preview at 22/1. Each-way insurance ensures a profitable two weeks whichever way the final goes but I would dearly love for Higgins to finish the job, as much for the man himself as anything else.
I have been lucky enough to interview Higgins a couple of times since losing to Selby in 2017 and it is plain to see how hard that defeat, and the subsequent one to Williams, hit him. I'm really not sure he would be able to come back from a third loss in a row.
1350: Standing in Higgins' way in his quest for a fifth world title is Judd Trump, reigning Masters champion and currently enjoying the one of the best spells of his career. For so long, we have all asked for Trump to harness his huge natural ability into a more-rounded snooker player, one who can win big events with more regularity, and this year he has delivered. Defeats of Ronnie O'Sullivan in the final of the Northern Ireland Open and The Masters gave the clearest signal yet that Trump as now close to the finished article and having appeared to peak just at the right time in this event, it comes as no surprise to see that Sky Bet make him their to lift his first world title.
All that said, it must be remembered that this is a re-run of the 2011 World Championship final where Higgins prevailed over a fresh-faced Trump 18-15 having trailed 10-7 at the end of the first day's play. While Trump is clearly a better player now, with a much more proficient safety game and plenty of big-match experience, Higgins has generally managed to hold sway over Trump ever since.
In the last nine meetings between the pair, Higgins has come out on top on each occasion, including in the quarter-finals here last year when he pulled off another miraculous comeback, and two victories over Trump this season remain fresh in the memory.
It all makes for a fascinating clash, especially when you consider that Higgins is entitled to still have a few battle scars having lost in the last two finals of the World Championship, firstly to Mark Selby in 2017 and then Mark Williams 12 months ago.
1345: As final acts go, this one certainly has plenty to live up to at the conclusion of a World Championship that has had just about everything; a incredible early shock as amateur James Cahill knocked out world number one Ronnie O'Sullivan in the first round, some memorable comebacks - some successful and some not - as Graeme Dott very nearly came back from the dead against Stuart Bingham, Judd Trump somehow managed to overcome Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Kyren Wilson came from 6-2 down to beat Barry Hawkins.
We've had 147 maximum break attempts aplenty, two giants of the game facing off in the last eight as John Higgins reminded everyone that he remains a major force in the game when beating Neil Robertson, while giant-killer Gary Wilson went from former taxi driver to World Championship semi-finalist with a wonderful run to the last four.
However, the biggest story of them all has to be Higgins' spectacular comeback against David Gilbert to book his place in today's final, the final session of their semi-final clash seeing the Scot come from 14-11 behind to prevail in one of the most dramatic snooker matches I can remember. Befitting of a match played at the Crucible, it really was pure theatre.
1330: Hello and welcome to Sporting Life's World Snooker Championship live blog as John Higgins faces Judd Trump in a mouthwatering clash at the Crucible Theatre. I'm Richard Mann and I'll be here over the next two days and four sessions of snooker as we wait to find out who will be crowned 2019 world snooker champion.
Routes to the final
John Higgins
- 10-7 v Mark Davis (100, 135, 132)
- 13-11 v Stuart Bingham (132)
- 13-10 v Neil Robertson (130, 101)
- 17-16 v David Gilbert (143, 139)
Judd Trump
- 10-9 v Thepchaiya Un-Nooh (141)
- 13-9 v Ding Junhui (103)
- 13-6 v Stephen Maguire (131, 106, 101)
- 17-11 v Gary Wilson (123, 114)
Head-to-head
Higgins 22-9 Trump (1 draw)
- World Championship: 2018, Higgins won 13-12 (quarter-finals); 2011, Higgins won 18-15 (final)
- In finals it’s 3-1 Higgins including final-frame decider for 2012 Shanghai Masters
Here is the playing schedule for the best of 35-frames final over the next two days...
Sunday May 5
- Afternoon session (2.00pm)
- Evening session (7pm)
Monday May 6
- Afternoon session (2.00pm)
- Evening session (7pm)
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