English Open Snooker: Neil Robertson hands John Higgins more final-frame agony to win title
Neil Robertson defeats John Higgins in a final-frame thriller to win the English Open title in Milton Keynes; the Australian delivered a brilliant 120 clearance to force the decider and ultimately seal a stunning 9-8 victory
Last Updated: 09/11/21 9:24am
Neil Robertson survived a nightmare start to the final session to hand John Higgins more final-frame agony and win the English Open title in Milton Keynes.
For the second final in succession, Higgins lost the last three frames after suffering an identical 9-8 loss in last month's Northern Ireland Open final against Mark Allen.
Higgins had the first chance in the decider but beached on 22 when he over-cut a red, and Robertson shrugged off his earlier inconsistency to win the match with a break of 65.
- Kelly Fisher's incredible journey to 9-ball queen
- Mark Selby: Blood, sweat & tears to one of snooker's greats
Robertson, who lost last year's final in a deciding frame to Judd Trump, said: "I found something from somewhere, and I played my best snooker towards the end of the match."
Higgins had seized command of the final by winning the first four frames of the evening session and converting a 5-3 deficit into a 7-5 lead.
The Australian fired two centuries, including a 140 in the fifth frame, as he looked on course to land his 21st career ranking title.
But Higgins, who won the last three frames of his semi-final to sink Ronnie O'Sullivan, was far from finished and he got the better of four attritional opening frames of the evening session to take control.
The mid-session interval could not have come at a better time for the Australian, who looked entirely out of sorts, and he duly returned to stop the rot, capitalising on a Higgins in-off to reduce the deficit to 6-7.
A 55 helped Higgins move one frame from victory but Robinson clawed back with a half-century of his own, then delivered a brilliant 120 clearance to force the decider and ultimately seal victory.
For those on the move, we will have the Snooker & Pool season covered via our website skysports.com/more-sports, our app for mobile devices, or our Twitter account @skysportspool for latest news and reports.
