Welsh Open snooker results RECAP: John Higgins beats Barry Hawkins in the final
JOHN HIGGINS landed a record fifth Welsh Open title with a 9-7 win over Barry Hawkins in Cardiff.
Hawkins will face Higgins in the final
Higgins and Ronnie O'Sullivan had been level on four Welsh titles each but the Scot is now out on his own, having defeated O'Sullivan 5-1 in this year's quarter-finals.
In a high-quality final on Sunday, Higgins rattled in breaks of 141 and 138, while Hawkins responded with a 130, as the afternoon session ended with the score tied at 4-4.
When play resumed Higgins took the first two frames but back-to-back tons from Hawkins, 103 and 138, levelled matters again.
A misjudged plant from Hawkins and a 68 from Higgins took frame 13 and the four-time world champion promptly took an 8-6 lead before Hawkins pulled one back.
But 42-year-old Higgins used all his experience to get over the line.
The Scot told the BBC: "It feels great. It was one of the most enjoyable finals I've ever played in, a great standard.
"At 6-6 I was 50 behind and managed to take it so that was a big frame. If Barry had won I'd have had no complaints."
Welsh Open LIVE scores
Final
Sunday
LIVE: Barry Hawkins 7-8 John Higgins
Semi-finals
Saturday
Barry Hawkins 6-4 Noppon Saengkham
John Higgins 6-2 Gary Wilson
Quarter finals
Friday afternoon session
Ian Burns 3-5 Noppon Saengkham
Barry Hawkins 5-1 Yan Bingtao
Friday evening session
Ronnie O'Sullivan 1-5 John Higgins
Gary Wilson 5-2 Yu De Lu
Third round
Thursday morning session
Craig Steadman 2-4 Noppon Saengkham
Fang Xiongman 2-4 Barry Hawkins
Gerard Greene 3-4 John J Astley
James Wattana 3-4 Kyren Wilson
Liam Highfield 4-1 Chris Wakelin
Mike Dunn 4-2 Xu Si
Stuart Bingham 1-4 Matthew Stevens
Yan Bingtao 4-1 Peter Ebdon
Thursday afternoon session
Ian Burns 4-2 Akani Songsermsawad
Jack Lisowski 3-4 Nigel Bond
Mark Allen 3-4 Gary Wilson
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-0 David Grace
Sam Craigie 0-4 John Higgins
Yu Delu 4-0 Ben Woollaston
Martin Gould 4-2 Mark Williams
Robbie Williams 3-4 Liang Wenbo
Thursday evening session
Matthew Stevens 2-4 Yan Bingtao
Liam Highfield 3-4 Ian Burns
Kyren Wilson 0-4 Noppon Saengkham
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-0 Mike Dunn
John Astley 2-4 Gary Wilson
Nigel Bond 0-4 John Higgins
Yu Delu 4-1 Liang Wenbo
Barry Hawkins 4-2 Martin Gould
John Higgins knocked Ronnie O'Sullivan out of the Welsh Open
Wednesday morning session
James Wattana 4-2 Michael Holt
Fang Xiongman 4-2 Chen Zifan
Craig Steadman 4-2 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Noppon Saengkham 4-1 Judd Trump
Ding Junhui 1-4 Liam Highfield
Chris Wakelin 4-2 Andrew Higginson
Peter Ebdon 4-1 Anthony Hamilton
David Grace 4-0 Jak Jones
Wednesday afternoon session
Ronnie O'Sullivan 4-0 Graeme Dott
Robbie Williams 4-0 Ian Preece
Scott Donaldson 2-4 Matthew Stevens
Ricky Walden 3-4 Martin Gould
Luca Brecel 1-4 Mike Dunn
Xu Si 4-2 Michael Georgiou
Nigel Bond 4-3 Ali Carter
Sam Craigie 4-1 Kurt Maflin
Stuart Bingham 4-2 Jackson Page
Mark Allen 4-1 Soheil Vahedi
Akani Songsermsawad 4-1 Jamie Jones
Oliver Lines 2-4 Yu De Lu
Ben Woollaston 4-3 Anthony McGill
Neil Robertson 3-4 Ian Burns
Gerard Greene 4-3 Stuart Carrington
Wednesday evening session
Yan Bingtao 4 -2 Kurt Dunham
Jack Lisowski 4-2 Lü Haotian
Barry Hawkins 4-0 Tom Ford
Kyren Wilson 4-0 Rory McLeod
Dominic Dale 2-4 John Astley
Aditya Mehta 3-4 Mark J Williams
Gary Wilson 4-3 Daniel Wells
Liang Wenbo 4-3 Mark Selby
Stephen Maguire 1-4 John Higgins
Michael White 2-4 Martin Gould
Noppon Saengkham 4-2 Ross Muir
Mei Xi Wen 3-4 Jak Jones
Luca Brecel 4-2 Josh Boileau
Paul S Davison 2-4 Lyu Haotian
Sam Craigie 4-0 Leo Fernandez
Jimmy Robertson 0-4 Kurt Maflin
Stuart Carrington 4-3 Peter Lines
Afternoon session
Mark Williams 4-2 Mark King
Kyren Wilson 4-1 Robert Milkins
David Grace 4-3 Rhydian Richards
Hamza Akbar 0-4 Mike Dunn
Alan McManus 0-4 Xu Si
Jack Lisowski 4-3 Mark Joyce
John Astley 4-2 Zhang Anda
Gary Wilson 4-1 Sam Baird
Matthew Stevens 4-1 Ken Doherty
Alex Borg 0-4 Soheil Vahedi
Anthony McGill 4-1 Basem Eltahhan
Rory McLeod 4-2 Adam Duffy
Nigel Bond 4-2 Lukas Kieckers
Joe Perry 2-4 Stephen Maguire
Yu De Lu 4-2 Billy Joe Castle
Thor Chuan Leong 3-4 Ben Woollaston
Evening session
Ronnie O'Sullivan w/o Robin Hull
Aditya Mehta 4-3 Martin O'Donnell
Jamie Jones 4-1 Alexander Ursenbacher
Mitchell Mann 0-4 Michael Georgiou
John Higgins 4-2 Matthew Selt
Shaun Murphy 0-4 Gerard Greene
Oliver Lines 4-3 Eden Sharav
Robbie Williams 4-0 Alan Taylor
Alfie Burden 3-4 Liang Wenbo
Snooker star Ronnie O'Sullivan makes stunning pot
Monday morning session
Darren Morgan 3-4 Rhydian Richards (Pre Qualifier)
Jackson Page 4-3 Sean O'Sullivan
Scott Donaldson 4-2 Fergal O'Brien
Fang Xiongman 4-3 Yuan SiJun
Chen Zifan 4-1 Zhou Yuelong
Barry Hawkins 4-1 Niu Zhuang
Jamie Curtis-Barrett 1-4 Ian Burns
Dominic Dale 4-0 Chris Totten
Afternoon session
Stuart Bingham 4-1 Chen Zhe
Yang Yuchen 1-4 Peter Ebdon
Li Yuan 1-4 Ricky Walden
Li Hang bt Liam Highfield (walkover)
Xiao Guodong 0-4 Chris Wakelin
Andrew Higginson 4-3 Ashley Hugill
Zhang Yong 1-4 James Wattana
Ali Carter 4-0 Rhys Clark
Ryan Day 2-4 Kurt Dunham
Rod Lawler 0-4 Tom Ford
Craig Steadman 4-1 David John
Sanderson Lam 0-4 Graeme Dott
Daniel Wells 4-1 Lee Walker
Jimmy White 3-4 Yan Bingtao
Tian Pengfei 1-4 Akani Songsermsawad
Ding Junhui 4-0 Hammad Miah
Evening session
Anthony Hamilton 4-3 David Gilbert
Michael Holt 4-2 Elliott Slessor
Hossein Vafaei 2-4 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
Judd Trump 4-3 Duane Jones
Mark Allen 4-2 Cao Yupeng
Ian Preece 4-2 Zhao Xintong
Neil Robertson 4-1 Mark Davis
Mark Selby 4-2 Christopher Keogan