Wilson beats Higgins to win International Championship

Published3 hours ago

Kyren Wilson claimed the 12th ranking title of his career by beating John Higgins 10-8 in a hard-fought International Championship final in China.

The 51-year-old Higgins, who was aiming to become snooker's oldest ranking event winner, took a 2-1 lead with a 141 break in the third frame.

Wilson, coming off winning the Northern Ireland Open two weeks ago, knocked in a 94 as he moved 4-3 up but four-time world champion Higgins made runs of 71 and 75 to lead 5-4 after the afternoon session.

The pair shared the opening four frames of the evening session before Wilson took three frames in a row with breaks of 80, 52 and 101 to take a 9-7 lead.

Higgins, who was beaten by world champion Wu Yize in last year's final, reduced the deficit to 9-8 but a 61 from 2024 world champion Wilson in the 18th frame gave him victory.

"It was about sticking in there and bouncing back if I made mistakes," said Wilson, who becomes the 16th player to win back-to-back ranking events.

"[Higgins] has made a career out of unbelievable clearances under pressure and has been an idol of mine since I started watching the game.

"To play him in a final like this is a dream come true and it is an honour to win."

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