Higgins writes history at 2012 Shanghai Masters

John Higgins, the 2012 Shanghai Masters champion

John Higgins beat Judd Trump 10-9 in what could easily be described as a "worthy-to-be-put-into-snooker's-history-book" final, in order to win the sixth edition of the Shanghai Masters tournament.

It's been quite some time since Higgins kept the media busy (and I'm only referring to the good stuff now), actually it was during the 2011 World Championship final that his road towards victory ended. Since then, he lacked of silverware and struggled to get back into form for an entire season.

However, everything changed with the start of the Shanghai Masters, "The Wizard of Wishaw" obtaining beautiful victories of 5-2 in front of Jamie Jones, 5-0 by playing Ryan Day, 5-3 with Ali Carter, 6-3 against Shaun Murphy and finally a thrilling and hard-fought-for 10-9 in front of the man he beat ironically last time he lifted a trophy, Judd Trump.

The final was an epic battle of cues that featured a great 147 by Higgins and a brilliant cue action from Trump's part, at least in the first session.

It was with incredible breaks of 112, 80, 79, 111, 59, 51 and 53 that Judd easily landed on a brilliant 7-2 lead as the first session was ending, leaving Higgins in shock. 

John receiving his cheque for the beautiful 147

What could the Scotsman do when his opponent was just three frames away from victory? OK, he made a maximum break, but we all know that 147 breaks don't automatically win you the match.
The answer was to fight back ... and that's precisely what Higgins did.

When the lads came back into the arena for the second and last session, a genuinely outstanding force unleashed from Higgins's cue as the four-time world champion fired in breaks of 88, 74, 48, 30, 76 and 71 to catch up with his opponent at 7-7. Who would have thought of that?!

Mostly kept in his seat, Trump hardly had the chance to pot a ball and when during frame 15 (a pretty dramatic frame it must be said) he finally got some time table, he struggled for fluency.

At this point it was crucial to see who's taking the lead and after quite a battle, Higgins doubled the black to get himself into the leading position for the first time since the beginning of the match. It was 8-7.

Judd Trump, the runner-up of the 2012 Shanghai Masters

Still, Trump found the strength to fight back and with a great 105 break restored the equality of the game, before Higgins went on and worked his magic for a 64 break and a 9-8 scoreline.

A scrappy affair, filled with tense moments, misses, pressure balls and awkward positional shots followed up next, the chances of seeing a decider as well as Higgins crowned champion being the same.

The final battle was given on the colours, this time the Scotsman losing a bit of his concentration and potting the cue ball, this leaving Trump with an ideal position to clinch the frame and force the decider.

The entire Chinese gang next to the new champ

The same Trump was the one to open the scoreline, but after just 36 points he lost position, Higgins coming to the table to pot an incredible long red and start his match-winning break of 61 points that was leaving his opponent in need of a snooker.

Although Judd tried his best to get it, an out-of-this-world snooker carefully landed by Higgins made him miss the blue and so, the Scotsman victory became a reality.

With the biggest smile I have ever seen painted on his face, John Higgins received his trophy and lifted it up in front of an ecstatic crowd. 

The Scotsman is once again champion. Top class performance!