Snooker legend John Higgins upsets the odds to reach another International Championship final

Four-time world snooker champion Higgins upset the odds as he crushed the in-form Chang Bingyu, 9-2, to book a spot in Saturday’s title match where he will face Kyren Wilson for the winner’s purse of £175,000.

Victory over Wilson would see Higgins become the oldest ranking event winner in professional snooker history, eclipsing the record set by Mark Williams at last year’s Xi’an Grand Prix.

Wuhan Open champion Chang came into Friday’s semi-final encounter as the favourite following a blistering run of scoring in recent days; the 24-year-old from China had compiled 13 century breaks across his four previous matches in Nanjing.

Only their second meeting on snooker’s top-flight, Higgins claimed the opening frame courtesy of an 80 but Chang replied with an 82 to level.

Efforts of 55 and 93 helped Higgins go 3-1 up at the mid-session interval before an important fifth frame put the Scot further ahead, stealing it from behind by clearing the final three colours, climaxing in a black along the top cushion.

Higgins then compiled runs of 131 and 103 - either side of Chang taking frame seven with a 74 - to finish the afternoon session at the SNC National Fitness Centre in control at 6-2 in front.

On resumption a few hours later, Higgins didn’t let up on his young opponent, fashioning a 110 to begin the evening session in style - his third ton in just four frames - and then securing the next two frames for a comprehensive victory, sealing his passage through on the final black of the 11th.

The result means that Higgins - who won this title in 2015 - has reached the International Championship final in back-to-back years; in 2025 he was denied the trophy by Wu Yize who recorded his maiden professional accolade.

The last of Higgins’ 33 ranking event titles came in April 2025 when he defeated Mark Selby to win the Tour Championship. Since then, he appeared in two ranked finals last season - as well as the invitational Masters - and was only a couple of frames away from a ninth World Championship final.

Before travelling for his latest trip to the Far East, Higgins was enduring a frustrating start to the new term, ranked 79th on the seasonal ranking list.

At the British Open in September he talked about motivation issues, and his plan of winding down for retirement over the next few years. Earlier this week, ‘The Wizard’ said he’d ‘gone back to basics’ and was feeling better having reverted back to using a brass ferrule on his cue.

Despite this impressive one-sided triumph over Chang, Higgins will face a player in even better form in the final, as Wilson - who defeated Fan Zhengyi in the opening semi-final on Thursday - is on an 11-match winning streak and looking for successive ranking titles having won the Northern Ireland Open crown a couple of weekends ago.

If Higgins can complete one of the biggest accomplishments of his long, illustrious career on Saturday, he’ll extend the run of a ‘Class of 92’ member having won at least one ranking title in each of the last 32 calendar years. So far, neither himself, Williams, nor Ronnie O’Sullivan have done so in 2026.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 International Championship, visit our tournament information centre here.