Joe O'Connor to play John Higgins in 2025 World Open snooker final in China

As well as the 14th ranking event title of the current World Snooker Tour season, O’Connor and Higgins will meet to decide the destiny of the £175,000 first prize, and a place at the Champion of Champions invitational later this year, for which neither player has yet to qualify for.

In terms of experience and professional honours there is a gulf between the two players, but on current form and expectations, the tournament-concluding encounter has the makings of a very close one. 49-year-old Higgins is aiming for his 32nd ranking event title, 29-year-old O’Connor is going for his first.

How did O’Connor and Higgins make it to the World Open final?

Englishman O’Connor defeated Alexander Ursenbacher 5-3 in his opening round ‘qualifier’ held in Sheffield before Christmas. In the Far East at the main venue, O’Connor got past Alfie Burden 5-1 before stopping defending champion Judd Trump’s 16-match World Open winning streak with a 5-2 victory over the world number one in the last 32, finishing with a break of 113.

Michael Holt was navigated, 5-3, in the last 16 before O’Connor produced a sizzling display in the quarter-finals as he compiled breaks of 135, 100 and 132 in a 5-1 win over Masters champion Shaun Murphy.

In the semi-finals, runs of 62, 68 and 75 helped O’Connor build a 3-1 mid-session interval lead over former World Open champion in Yushan, Ali Carter. On resumption, the players traded frames until O’Connor recorded a 6-3 success.

Higgins very nearly didn’t make it to Yushan as he scrambled past Wang Yuchen 5-4 at the Ponds Forge qualifiers, crafting a 76 break in the deciding frame having trailed by 48 points.

In China, the Scottish legend defeated Mark Davis 5-1 and Robbie Williams 5-3 before coming back from 4-2 down to edge past Zhou Yuelong 5-4 in the last 16, and wiping aside Pang Junxu 5-0 in the quarter-finals.

Higgins was involved in a dramatic semi-final showdown, as he put an end to world number 89 Zak Surety’s fairytale run by recovering from two down with three to play for a 6-5 win.

What reaching the World Open title match means to the finalists

Both players have bounced back from ranking adversity this season.

Having spent over 29 consecutive years within the world’s elite top 16 bracket, Higgins dropped out of it earlier this campaign, but immediately got back into it after a run to the final of the 2024 British Open. ‘The Wizard’ travelled to Yushan as the world number 13.

In recent weeks, world number 39 O’Connor has fallen outside the sport’s top 32, as he began to defend a big chunk of prize money from his cumulative two-year rolling total.

It has been a consistent season for Higgins, although this was the first tournament he made the last four since losing to Selby in the British Open final in September. However, he made the quarter-finals of the recent Welsh Open where he only narrowly lost out to eventual winner Selby, 5-4.

Saturday will be Higgins’ 57th appearance in a ranking event final. His last ranking trophy came four years ago at the 2021 Players Championship - the longest such wait he has had to endure throughout his illustrious career. Higgins’ last triumph on Chinese soil came at the 2016 China Championship invitational.

This will be O’Connor’s second ranking event final dance. At the 2022 Scottish Open final he was put away 9-2 by Gary Wilson.

It was a frustrating first half of the 2024/25 season for O’Connor who didn’t get past the last 32 of any event. But the new year has represented an upturn in fortunes - only a fortnight ago he defeated the in-form World Champion Kyren Wilson en route to a quarter-final finish where he bowed out to Carter. O’Connor turned the tables on Carter during Friday’s semi-final between the two.

O’Connor has not qualified for next week’s World Grand Prix in Hong Kong, but the World Open title on Saturday will shoot him up the one-year ranking list and in contention for Players Championship and Tour Championship qualification.

He is already guaranteed £75,000 for making the Yushan final, which is over double his previous highest payday on the professional snooker circuit.

What is the head-to-head record between Joe O’Connor and John Higgins?

Going into the 2025 World Open final, O’Connor and Higgins have previously played each other eight times in professional competition - Higgins leads that count with four wins to O’Connor’s three (there has also been one draw in the Championship League).

O’Connor won their first two meetings, at the 2019 Welsh Open and then just a few weeks later at the China Open - the only time they have previously faced each other outside of the UK.

Higgins then won four of their next five fixtures (including the draw) but O’Connor claimed their most recent tie in the semi-finals of the Winners’ Group at the 2024 Championship League Invitational before losing to fellow Leicester cueman Selby in the grand final which was his second professional final.

The 2025 World Open will be played across two sessions starting at 06:00GMT and 11:30GMT.

For results from the 2025 World Open, please visit our tournament information centre here.