John Higgins completely demolished Stephen Maguire today in Nanjing and will face Wu Yize in the Final tomorrow … Higgins won convincingly as I expected although, to be honest, I had a look at cuetracker after the match ended today and their head-to-head is extremely close, much closer than I expected.
Scotland’s John Higgins thrashed compatriot and close friend Stephen Maguire 9-2 to earn his place in the final of the International Championship in Nanjing.
Victory extends a five game winning streak over practice partner Maguire in professional competition. You have to go back to 2014 for Maguire’s last triumph over Higgins.
Today’s result saw Higgins claim victory in what was his 90th ranking event semi-final. He’s gunning for a third ranking event win of the calendar year, having suffered a four-year title drought before that in which he lost five straight finals. The 50-year-old claimed silverware earlier this year at the World Open and Tour Championship.
Four-time World Champion Higgins now progresses to tomorrow’s final, where he will face Chinese 22-year-old star Wu Yize. They do battle over the best of 19 frames, with a top prize of £175,000 on the line.
It will be the fourth biggest ever age gap in a ranking final, the biggest was 30 years between Ding Junhui and Steve Davis in the 2005 UK Championship final.
Higgins surged 6-0 up in this afternoon’s session, before Maguire claimed the last two to give himself hope at 6-2.
That hope was short lived. Breaks of 93 and 64 helped 33-time ranking event winner Higgins surge to three consecutive frames and a 9-2 win.
Higgins said: “I’m over the moon. To be 6-0 up was what dreams are made of to start with. Stephen pulled two back and it was still anybody’s game. I’m delighted with the way I hit the ball today.
“In a way, it is easy to play Stephen as a friend, because I know he is such a fierce competitor. When you are out there, you are giving it 100 percent. After the match and before you are still mates obviously. It is a great win for me to beat Stephen like that.
“It was pivotal to win the World Open. It gave me that bit of self belief in my game. It doesn’t matter who you are, when you start losing that self belief the game becomes so difficult. Especially when it comes to getting over the winning line. To make it concrete in my mind and say I was a winner again took the pressure off.
“Wu Yize has been incredible. To beat Judd from 4-0 down with six one visits, then carry it on to beat Barry 6-0 and beat the World Champion after that is amazing. He is going to be on the crest of a wave. I’m hoping he finds the nerves tomorrow, because it is his first final in China.”
I will be firmly in Wu’s camp tomorrow aven if, on experience, John has to be favourite. Those who know me, and follow this blog, know why.
2 thoughts on “The 2025 International Championship – Day 7 – Second Semi-final”
Hey.
I agree 100%. John got off lightly and is very unfair on ours who got banned. I was in Sheffield fir the Snooker when it came out. He’s a disgrace
Tim, first of all, there is no need to post the same comment several times. People who comment for the first time need to wait until they get approved for the comment to show. It’s a protection mechanism to keep spam under control. Next, Pat Mooney got banned from all things snooker definitively. I wasn’t there when the authorities in charge of the trial debated on the case, but obviously they came to the conclusion that he was the main culprit. There is also another aspect that is worth mentioning. Before the Hearn era, several players had filed complains, informing the authorities that they had been approached and offered deals for fixing matches. The former authorities never took action. So, players were entitled to believe that there was no point filing such complains. Hearn had only recently been voted in and had not yet got time and opportunities to show how different things would become under his ruling.
I still believe that John got off lightly indeed, but maybe I don’t have all the facts, so I give it the “benefits of doubt” as we say in French..
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Hey.
I agree 100%. John got off lightly and is very unfair on ours who got banned. I was in Sheffield fir the Snooker when it came out. He’s a disgrace
Tim, first of all, there is no need to post the same comment several times. People who comment for the first time need to wait until they get approved for the comment to show. It’s a protection mechanism to keep spam under control. Next, Pat Mooney got banned from all things snooker definitively. I wasn’t there when the authorities in charge of the trial debated on the case, but obviously they came to the conclusion that he was the main culprit. There is also another aspect that is worth mentioning. Before the Hearn era, several players had filed complains, informing the authorities that they had been approached and offered deals for fixing matches. The former authorities never took action. So, players were entitled to believe that there was no point filing such complains. Hearn had only recently been voted in and had not yet got time and opportunities to show how different things would become under his ruling.
I still believe that John got off lightly indeed, but maybe I don’t have all the facts, so I give it the “benefits of doubt” as we say in French..