SHEFFIELD, England // John Higgins won his fourth snooker world championship title, beating 21-year-old upstart Judd Trump 18-15 in the final at The Crucible.
Higgins trailed 10-7 going into the second day of the final, but the veteran won five straight frames to seize a 14-12 lead and take control of the match.
Trump had a chance to prolong the final when he was up 60-0 in the 33rd frame but missed a routine shot to pot the pink ball. Trump then fouled when leading 61-43 with only the pink and black balls remaining, and Higgins calmly potted them both to secure the title.
The victory capped a turbulent 12 months for Higgins, widely regarded as one of the greatest players of all time but whose image took a hit after he was embroiled in a match-fixing probe following an undercover investigation by British newspaper the News of the World. Most of the charges were withdrawn, but the 35-year-old Scot was banned for six months for failing to report an approach to fix frames.
"It's been an unbelievable 12 months. But it's great," a teary-eyed Higgins said. "I knew I had to come into the third session today and play great, and I think I've done that to get back into the match."
Trump was relatively unknown coming into the tournament but won over a legion of fans with his aggressive style of play and spectacular shot-making. He seemed to have Higgins on the ropes after his strong performance on Sunday and enjoyed a majority of the support from the crowd, but was ultimately undone by his own mistakes.
"Seventeen days ago I was no one really, but every game it kept building and the fan base I've created is unbelievable," Trump said. "Obviously it wasn't enough this time, but I'll come back next year."
Higgins was full of praise for the young runner-up, and said he was lucky to have won.
"Over two days, he was the better player," Higgins said. "He was playing a brand of snooker that I've never seen before in my life. It was unbelievable. ... It was great to watch, and we've got a new sensation in the game."
