John Higgins weighs up a shot at the Crucible
John Higgins weighs up a shot at the Crucible

Betfred World Championship final: Judd Trump leads John Higgins 16-9


Judd Trump is only two frames away from winning this year's Betfred World Snooker Championship as he leads John Higgins 16-9 after another wonderful session of snooker at the Crucible.

Higgins kicked off proceedings on Sunday in fine style, coming desperately close to a 147 maximum break in the opening frame of the final day of an increasingly dramatic final.

Higgins potted all 15 reds - including an outrageous double on the last - before missing a relatively simple final black with the colours at his mercy.

It was the eighth century break of the match, matching the previous Crucible record for a world final, and reduced Higgins' deficit to six frames at 12-6.

Higgins' steady recovery continued in the following frame as he capitalised on a rare mistake by Trump to compile a break of 59 and reduce the gap to 12-7.

But Trump showed he was not unnerved by the Scot's mini-comeback as he responded by producing his fifth century of the final, a 101, to move within five frames of victory.

Trump looked on course for back-to-back hundreds in the next but ran out of position and had to settle for a 71 which took him into the mid-session interval 14-7 in front.

The dazzling snooker continued after the interval as Trump fired a 126 for his sixth century of the match to extend his lead to 15-7.

Breaks of 67 and 70 saw Higgins claw back Trump's advantage to six frames, before it was Trump's turn to miss out on a maximum attempt when he hit the penultimate red against the middle jaw.

Trump's 104 in that frame was the 100th century break of the tournament and also drew Trump level with Ding Junhui's record of seven tons in a single Crucible match, as he takes a 16-9 lead into the evening session.

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