Championship League 2022 - John Higgins defeats Stuart Bingham to triump in Championship League final
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Updated 04/02/2022 at 21:31 GMT
Former world number one John Higgins used all his experience and steady nerves as he continued his excellent form from the start of the week as he defeated Stuart Bingham in the final of the Championship League. He held on at 2-2 after being 2-0 ahead to triumph in the fifth and decisive frame, winning a spot in the Champion of Champions tournament.
John Higgins at the Masters
Image credit: Eurosport
John Higgins crowned his week by winning the Championship League in a final against Stuart Bingham.
Higgins was a late entrant to the winners group series of games after winning Group 7 at the start of the week.
He carried his good form into the tournament proper and ended as 2022’s champion - the third time he has won the tournament.
The Scot scored a half-century in each of his winning frames as he maintained his consistency though Bingham put in a credible showing of his own.
Higgins hit 50 and then 82 in successive frames to go 2-0, just one from winning the tournament, but Bingham then won the third 59-2 before hitting 110 - the only century of the final - to set up a fifth.
A winning break of 88 settled matters in Higgins favour.
Higgins reached the final after a hard fought semi-final win over Yan Bingtao, while Bingham beat Liang Wenbo.
The Scottish veteran took on the Chinese contender on Friday evening for the right to challenge for the trophy in the final later that night, but it was Yan who looked the most impressive at the open.
A century break of 135 had Higgins on the back foot from the off, and when Yan took the second frame 77-46, it left him just one frame from victory.
However the 46-year-old former number one showed his class and his nerve with a break of 56 and then 76 squaring things at 2-2 for the decider.
The final frame went Higgins' way, but he needed all his experience to be on the right side of a 73-64 scoreline after his opponent missed a crucial pink.
Liang and Bingham’s match started in controversial circumstances when Bingham was awarded the first frame as his rival was not at the table in time for the start of the game.
Bingham that setback to his advantage when he doubled his advantage with a 76 break in the first frame the pair actually played.
However Liang came back into contention with some heavy scoring of his own. He hit 91 in the third frame and then a break of 50 in the second to level the scores at 2-2 for a remaining frame.
Bingham was then able to secure his passage to the final with an unanswered break of 65.
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