Relieved Higgins wins rollercoaster to reach Players final: "Never have forgive myself"

The four-time world champion ousted world number one Trump, 6-5, to reach the 60th ranking event final of his illustrious career.

Aged 50 years and 9 months, Higgins becomes the second-oldest ranking event finalist in the history of professional snooker, only behind Rex Williams who was 53 when he made the 1986 Grand Prix title match where he was defeated by Jimmy White, 10-6.

Should Higgins lift the trophy later this weekend - for the second time having won the crown in 2021 - he would become the oldest ranking event champion, ever, eclipsing fellow ‘Class of 92’ graduate Mark Williams who broke the record earlier this season at the Xi’an Grand Prix in China.

Higgins is only in this week’s event due to the other ‘Class of 92’ member Ronnie O’Sullivan opting not to enter. He finished 17th in the qualification race - one place below the cutoff - but due to O’Sullivan’s non-participation, he was first in line for a call-up.

Breaks of 71, 57 and 76 got Higgins off to a fantastic start on Saturday afternoon as he established a 3-0 lead, but a missed pink in frame four halted his momentum, and Trump took the frame to open his account just before the mid-session interval.

On resumption, Higgins re-established a three-frame cushion before recently crowned German Masters champion Trump took the next two to close the gap to just one.

Frame eight went the way of the Scot to put him on the hill, but a run of 68 from Trump - his only half-century of the entire match - kept his hopes alive.

There was a crazy finish to frame 10 as there were gasps from the crowd as Higgins missed a relatively straightforward pink into a middle pocket to leave his opponent needing penalty points. Trump laid a snooker, Higgins successfully escaped but unfortunately sank the cueball. With white in hand, Trump cleared from yellow to black to somehow force the contest all the way.

More drama was to come in the deciding frame, as Higgins sank a beautiful long red from his opponent’s break-off, but later in his contribution he accidentally potted a red when going into the cluster off the blue, leaving his peer an opportunity to take the match.

It seemed as if two-time winner of this title Trump was going to serenely coast to the final, but whilst on 39 he left himself hampered on a red which he subsequently missed - much to his visible frustration as he hit the table with his hand and banged his cue into the floor.

Like he has done so many times throughout his illustrious career, Higgins stepped up and made a decisive break of 65 to progress, much to his relief after what had happened in the previous frame.

Having been on an eight-match losing streak to him, this is Higgins' second win over Trump in several weeks - he pipped him 6-5 in the semi-finals of the Masters last month.

Runner-up at the ranked International Championship, and the aforementioned Masters invitational, Higgins has not yet won a title this season. If he defeats either Zhao Xintong or Mark Allen in the showpiece tie, he would continue this term’s incredible sequence of unique ranking event title winners.

Speaking to Channel 5 straight after the match, Higgins relived the missed pink that nearly cost him the match: “On the pink, I would never have forgive myself.

“You know what I was thinking about on that shot? I was thinking about Mark Williams. When Mark Williams played me in the UK Championship - that’s what Mark done. He just dollied the winning ball in and I was down on the pink and I’m thinking ‘don’t dolly it in because if Judd comes back and gets a couple of snookers you’ll be kicking yourself’. So I hadn’t actually settled myself down and then I just don’t know what happened”.

Higgins was referencing his memorable 10-9 win over Williams in the 2010 UK Championship. Played at this same Telford venue, Higgins was 9-5 down in that encounter, and needed a snooker in frame 17.

To view the full draw, results, schedule, and other information from the 2026 Players Championship, visit here.