John Higgins triumphed in the Championship League on Friday in Leicester – the third time the Scot has won the invitational non-ranking event.
A dramatic conclusion to the competition at the Morningside Arena saw the result from each of the knockout phase encounters determined by deciding frames.
Stuart Bingham had topped the initial round-robin stage with five wins from his six league bouts, and the Englishman subsequently edged Liang Wenbo 3-2 in the last four after the latter had been docked a frame for arriving late to the contest.
In the other semi-final affair, Higgins fought back from 2-0 behind to deny Yan Bingtao in a close final frame that concluded on the colours.
And the same 3-2 scoreline was again needed in the final, with Higgins compiling a break of 88 in the decider to deny Bingham.
Victory in the latest edition of the Championship League for Higgins adds to his previous successes in the competition back in 2017 and 2018.
As well as claiming the £10,000 top prize and various other monetary benefits throughout the event, Higgins will now gain an invite to next season’s prestigious Champion of Champions.
It also means the Wizard of Wishaw’s miserable run of defeats from his previous four finals is over, coming at a good time ahead of his defence of the Players Championship next week in Wolverhampton.
Featured photo credit: CLSnooker
