John Higgins won the 2023 BetVictor Championship League Invitational, beating Judd Trump 3-1 in the final in Leicester.
The Wizard of Wishaw won the event for a second consecutive year and earned a place in November's Champion of Champions.
Higgins made a break of 62 in taking the opening frame before Trump levelled with a run of 100, career century number 899. But Higgins regained the lead with a 78 then got the better of a scrappy fourth frame to secure his first title since winning the same event 12 months ago.
“It feels amazing,” said the Scot, who won a total of £26,500 from the tournament.
“I played really well the last couple of days, I was delighted with the way I hit the ball. It’s a big tournament in its own right now. It gets you into the Champion of Champions. It’s brilliant to win it and hopefully, it can give me a bit of confidence.
“I got some work done to my cue, but I am going back to my roots with same size of cue. It seemed to work. It’s given me confidence. It’s all about confidence this game.”
Back in the winners’ circle 🏆
— BetVictor Championship League Snooker (@CLSnooker) March 2, 2023
£10,000 and a place at the @ChampOfChamps this November 👏#ChampionshipLeagueSnooker #ChampOfChamps pic.twitter.com/Mqjczmifb5
Earlier, in a dramatic semi-final, Kyren Wilson took a 2-0 lead over Higgins with breaks of 137 and 85, only for the four-time world champion to hit back with 86, 61 and 66 to win 3-2.
Trump eased to a 3-0 success over Neil Robertson only to come off second best in the final.
