{"id":245624,"date":"2026-01-19T01:40:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-19T01:40:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/245624\/"},"modified":"2026-01-19T01:40:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-19T01:40:07","slug":"kyren-wilson-holds-off-john-higgins-to-secure-his-first-masters-title-snooker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/245624\/","title":{"rendered":"Kyren Wilson holds off John Higgins to secure his first Masters title | Snooker"},"content":{"rendered":"

Kyren Wilson collected his first Masters title to thwart John Higgins\u2019s hopes of making more history after a cagey final replete with uncharacteristic errors from both players.<\/p>\n

Higgins was seeking a third Masters title at Alexandra Palace \u2013 20 years after he last lifted the trophy \u2013 and, at 50, the Scot had become the oldest player to reach the final of a triple crown event.<\/p>\n

But it was a low-quality showpiece, with the two-time runner-up Wilson eking out a 5-3 lead at the end of the first session before digging in to claim a 10-6 win and the \u00a3350,000 top prize.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn 2018 I lost in the final and I cried like a little girl, I\u2019m trying not to cry now because it means so much to me,\u201d Wilson told the BBC afterwards. \u201cIt was an absolute honour and privilege to share the table with not only a legend, but an idol of mine \u2013 I don\u2019t ever want to tell him that because I want to try and beat him.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just an absolute dogfight from frame one and I just tried to be as dogged as John has been over the years. I\u2019m glad he\u2019s managed to give me one for a change.\u201d<\/p>\n

Higgins beat the reigning world champion, Zhao Xintong,<\/a> and the current world No 1, Judd Trump, both in final frame deciders, to reach the final but the Scot said he was well below his best on Sunday. \u201cI was just useless,\u201d he said. \u201cTake no credit away, Kyren was by far the better player. He was totally dominant \u2013 it wasn\u2019t even a 10-6 match.\u201d<\/p>\n

Higgins went 1-0 up with a break of 58 but despite establishing a 63-point lead in the second frame, he missed three simple pots and Wilson cleared up to level.<\/p>\n

Wilson found some momentum to go 3-1 up and although Higgins used all of his experience to take the next two frames, back-to-back century breaks from the Englishman gave him a 5-3 lead heading into the evening.<\/p>\n

A break of 71 narrowed the gap but Higgins\u2019s attempt at a risky double backfired as Wilson mopped up to restore his two-frame advantage.<\/p>\n

Kyren Wilson broke his cue at the start of the campaign and said he was \u2018very lost\u2019 after an early exit at the UK Championship. Photograph: John Walton\/PA<\/p>\n

Wilson was far from fluent but he was able to pull away with Higgins unable to capitalise on his opponents\u2019 errors. A 78-break \u2013 Wilson\u2019s only 50-plus break of the night \u2013 put him 9-5 ahead and although Higgins refused to go down without a fight, the 34-year-old got over the line.<\/p>\n

Wilson broke his cue at the start of the campaign and admitted he was \u201cvery lost\u201d and \u201cvery close to \u2026 a mental breakdown\u201d during his last-32 defeat by Elliot Slessor at the UK Championship last month.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought at the UK, \u2018I\u2019m gone\u2019, I honestly didn\u2019t know if I was ever going to be back in the winner\u2019s enclosure,\u201d the 2024 world champion<\/a> said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kyren Wilson collected his first Masters title to thwart John Higgins\u2019s hopes of making more history after a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[85,46,105],"class_list":{"0":"post-245624","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-il","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}