The 2021 Snooker Scottish Open came to an end, and the former "talented teenager" Brechel, who reached the final of the ranking tournament back-to-back, played well in the final, and he once took an 8:2 lead in the showdown with four-time World Champion Higgins, although the "Wizard" reversed and saved three consecutive match points, but finally lost to Brechel 5:9, and won the fourth runner-up in the past month or so, regrettably missing the ranking champion. Bretchell won the ranking tournament for the second time in his career after winning the Chinese Championship in 2017, and the defeated Higgins finished second for the 23rd time in his career, becoming the player with the most runners-up in snooker history, which is also a new record, after all, the runner-up is not easy to get alone.
The final between Brechel and Higgins has attracted everyone's attention, the two have been in a state of explosion recently, Brechel also reached the final of the British Championship in the last ranking match, but finally lost to the Chinese famous Zhao Xintong, after coming to the Scottish Open, Brechel continued to feel hot, although the opponent's comprehensive strength is not very strong, but Brechel still played his due level, he has defeated Joe Perry, Pang Junxu, O'Breen, Serte and McGill to advance to the final. Higgins is also in a stable state, since the beginning of November, he has played in the Northern Ireland Open, The English Open and the championship final, although they are all runners-up, but the stability is unmatched, after coming to the Scottish Open, Higgins continues to be hot, he has defeated Thai famous Sancham, British famous Ryan Day, "Glasses Man" Gould, "Brother Potato" Gilbert, and the semi-final is 6:1 to sweep the biggest favorite O'Sullivan. From the perspective of the world ranking of the two, Higgins has an absolute advantage, before this game, Higgins ranked sixth in the world, while Brechel was 16th outside, Higgins was obviously more favored.
However, at the beginning of the game, Brechel showed more confidence and determination to win, while world champion Higgins was a bit slow. The first game between the two sides played very fiercely, the two exchanged offensive rights many times, Brechel finally seized the opportunity to take the lead first, after the difficulty of winning the first set Brechel's self-confidence, in the second set he blasted out a single shot 96 points and then the next city, in the third game both sides had offensive opportunities, Higgins did not have a continuous attack, Brechel seized the opportunity to score consecutively around the low score of color balls, and finally he won another game of 3:0 far ahead. The trailing Higgins then fought back, and in the fourth game he repeatedly took a clean sheet and Brechel chased back an inning, and in the fifth game, Brechel single-handedly blasted 61 points to stabilize the position, and did not let Higgins continue to close the score. The sixth inning became a turning point in the game, with both sides playing fiercely and both had a chance to win, but Brechel's last three-point win continued to extend the score to 5:1.
In the seventh game Higgins recovered somewhat, single shot 70 points and then pulled back a set, forcing the score to 2:5, but then the game became Brechel's personal performance time, in the eighth game Brechel blasted a single shot of 104 points to widen the score, in the ninth game Brechel played a single 79 points to seal the victory, in the tenth game Brechel attacked twice after a clean sheet Higgins, after ten games Brechel led Higgins 8:2, Higgins, who had no way to retreat, then suddenly broke out. And Brechel got the match point after a bit of a rash, Higgins won three consecutive sets to chase the score to 5:8, let people see the hope of a big reversal, the 14th game Brechel did not give Higgins another chance, he shot a single shot 127 points after winning this set, the total score of 9:5 victory over Higgins, the second time in his career to win the ranking championship.
Brechel was known as a "genius teenager" when he first debuted, many professionals think that he is Neil Robertson, Ding Junhui after another non-British Isles talented player, but in recent years he has been a bit silent, the world ranking has long been ranked 20 outside, after winning the British Championship runner-up and the Scottish Open championship consecutively, Brechel's world ranking will return to the world's top 16, after winning the fourth runner-up of the season in a row, Higgins' number of runners-up reached 23, which is the most ranked of all the players in Snooker. This is also a new record.