Kyren Wilson and John Higgins will encounter each other in the 2026 Masters final at the Alexandra Palace in London on Sunday.
The pair will vie for the £350,000 champion’s cheque after emerging from two hugely dramatic semi-final ties on Saturday.
Wilson fought his way back from 5-4 down to put an end to Wu Yize’s impressive Masters debut, the Warrior compiling a tremendous break of 116 in the deciding frame.
Earlier on the penultimate day, Higgins retrieved a 5-3 deficit to oust world number one Judd Trump by the same narrow margin.
Both games provided a deluge of drama, but the levels conjured during the Higgins and Trump showdown were off the charts.
The latter will be left to rue several missed opportunities as he seemed to – uncharacteristically, it has to be said – completely crumble under the pressure of the occasion.
While that was hard to believe in Trump’s case, it was more comprehensible when it came to Wu, the 22 year-old botching a red when on course for victory in the tenth frame.
Both Higgins and Wilson have now escaped probable defeats in successive matches, and each may feel that it’s their destiny to emerge with the silverware this year.
For Wilson, the world number two is hoping to make it third time lucky having previously been denied in the 2018 title-deciding affair and again in last year’s Masters final.
The 2024 world champion endured a difficult end to last year, dealing with off-table issues and suffering from a significant decline in form.
However, he has generally looked back to somewhere near his best this week and will be desperate to add another major title to his collection.
Higgins, by contrast, remains on course to complete a hat-trick of Masters triumphs as he becomes the oldest Triple Crown finalist in the sport’s history.
The second of the 50 year-old’s victories in the prestigious invitational was all the way back in 2006, the last time the tournament was staged at the iconic Wembley Conference Centre.
Higgins has rarely even threatened to challenge since the event moved to the Ally Pally in 2012, but he has sourced inspiration from deep within this week – taking advantage of a little luck along the way as well.
Interestingly, the Scot boasts a far superior head-to-head record over Wilson from their prior matches in all competitions.
Indeed, Higgins has triumphed on 20 occasions from the 27 fixtures they’ve played on the main tour overall, and even when Championship League games are excluded, the head-to-head still reads favourably at 8-3.
They have clashed four times at the World Championship with Higgins prevailing three times, albeit the last of those meetings in 2024 went the way of Wilson as he proceeded to claim his maiden Crucible crown.
Both players possess a strong all-round game, indicating that their 2026 Masters final could be a right old scrap mixed with heavy scoring, tactical exchanges, and hopefully even more drama.
This edition of the Masters began in tame circumstances with all eight first-round ties concluding with mundane 6-2 scorelines.
The semi-final day was one to remember but, with the Paul Hunter Trophy on the line, there’s potentially even greater excitement to come.
The 2026 Masters final takes place over 19 frames on Sunday, January 18th at 1pm and 7pm GMT.
Featured photo credit: WST
