Scotland's four-time world champion John Higgins believes Sunday's Northern Ireland Open final against home favourite Mark Allen will be the best game he's ever played. Glasgow's Higgins defeated Masters champion Yan Bingtao 6-2 to take a place in the title race.
A high-profile showdown is just around the corner, with Northern Ireland's number one allen battling Higgins for the 'Alex Higgins Trophy', a 17-game, 9-win format, with the winner taking away the £70,000 top prize money from Belfast.
Higgins and Allen have played each other 18 times before, and the two sides are 9-9 evenly matched. The first match between them was at Waterfront Hall in Belfast, where Allen won 4-1 at the 2005 Northern Ireland Cup.
The semi-final in the early hours of the morning was a repeat of this year's Masters final, when Yan Bingtao won 10-8 in an epic confrontation. The 21-year-old Chinese has won in their last three encounters. Higgins completed the "revenge" with an outstanding performance for his previous failures.
In the semi-finals, Yan Bingtao took the lead. A single 66 gave him the first set, followed by a second set to establish a 2-0 lead. Since then, 31-time ranked champion Higgins has played his best form and scored thrilling victories. He scored 52, 83, 61, 78, 75 and 90 consecutive singles to win six straight sets to win 6-2.
"In terms of atmosphere, I think tomorrow will be the best race I've ever played. We played at the Wembley Convention Centre, we played at the 3,000-seat stadium in Hong Kong, and it was amazing. Tomorrow night's atmosphere will explode. Higgins, 46, said.
"Mark (Allen) will get most of the support, and rightfully so. He was a great representative of Irish snooker. He deserves to reach the final in front of all the fans, friends and family who adore him. I had to get in early, 100% focused, and not let the audience affect my thinking. ”
"I don't think tomorrow I'm going to play in a hostile atmosphere. It will be a great game that is enjoyable. I have a lot of respect for Mark Allen as a player, so I can't wait. ”
"Tonight I came back from 0-2 to victory over Yan Bingtao, who beat me in the last few games, and I am very satisfied with that. I love going to the competition, I like to have a lot of spectators on the spot and to receive their support. I just said to myself that I was in the semi-finals and after playing in the retreat for so long, I was going to give it my all. ”