Gilbert and Higgins to contest International Finale

David Gilbert and John Higgins will play out tomorrow's International Championship final, after winning their respective semi-finals on Friday and Saturday. First up on Friday David Gilbert took on Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in what always looked like being a really close match. Early on they went blow for a blow in what was understandably a bit of a nervy start. The highlight of the opening few frames was the break of 78 in frame number six from Un-Nooh to level the match at 3-3. A tight seventh frame went to Gilbert, and he followed that with an 83 to take an end of session 5-3 as he looked to b building into the match with some confidence. Both players had their chances in the first frame of the second session, but a nice clearance from Gilbert to steal the frame on the black looked like the big turning point as he went into a big 6-3 lead. Again David grew in confidence from that moment and a fantastic break of 112 in the tenth made it 7-3 and that soon became 8-3 as the "Angry Farmer" was just one frame away from his first ever ranking final. Un-Nooh's break of 57 ensured a second session interval at 4-8 and he started to pile some pressure on to David by winning a tight thirteenth, and you did start to wonder whether Dave was having trouble getting over the winning line. The next frame went close as well but with some good pots, particularly on the green at full stretch with extensions on the cue, Gilbert sealed the match and got the 9-5 victory.

Next up today was John Higgins as he took on Mark Selby. Again you expected this to be a close match on paper, but it wasn't to turn out that way thanks to all of John's brilliance. The match started poorly for Selby as he only potted two balls in the first three frames, breaks of 56 and 101 on the way to taking a 3-0 lead for John. A run of 52 got Selby on the board going into the mid-session break, but after the interval the Scot was firing once again. 87 and a 58 clearance from Higgins putting him into a commanding position guaranteed a two frame lead at 5-1 and two frames of the session left. We all know that Selby never goes quietly and he managed to get those last two frames of the afternoon to limit Higgins to a 5-3 end of session lead and keep his hopes alive. They weren't alive for very long when John stormed the first three frames of the second session to move 8-3 in front just as Gilbert had done a day earlier. Yet again, Selby wasn't going to go without a battle, making a tidy 79 to ensure the mid-session break at 4-8. The world number one did have an early chance in the thirteenth frame but once he couldn't make the most of that, John punished him and eventually put the match beyond all doubt by wrapping up a convincing 9-4 win.

Final Preview:

John Higgins Vs David Gilbert - Looking ahead to this weeks final chapter, and the first thing that must be said is that John Higgins will be a massive favourite to win this. David Gilbert has no experience of playing in these big finals while Higgins has more than most players ever to have played the game. That doesn't necessarily make things any easier as you would still naturally expect him to feel the nerves like any player. I want to start by talking about David Gilbert and his achievements of the week as well as the opportunity that he has if he can win tomorrow. The potential is massive for Gilbert, a place in the World Grand Prix is already in the bag thanks to a guaranteed £65,000 won in this event which is obviously the biggest pay day of his career. He is also already up to a provisional high of 21st, with the possibility of rising even further to 14th if he should beat Higgins. That would not only see him seeded into the top 16 for the UK Championships, but as there are also very few events left before the cut-off, it would more than likely see him into January's Masters which would be another huge achievement. Not to mention also taking the final spot in the Champion of Champions and having a very good chance to get himself seeded through to the Crucible in the top 16 and not having to go through the 3 qualifying rounds. His victories this week have been impressive, as he's hardly had easy opponents to reach the final. He played Xiao Guodong in round one and had to come through a decider to win there. His Last 32 match against Oliver Lines was the only match in this event that he's actually been favourite to win with the bookmakers, coming back from 4-3 down to win 6-4. Next up was Ryan Day and a 6-4 victory was once again very hard earned. Marco Fu was in very good form when he was Gilbert's next opponent in the quarter-finals. The match went to a decider, and a high pressured 37 clearance gave Dave the win on the final black, and obviously to get into the final he beat Un-Nooh who had also played some stunning snooker this week, winning by a convincing margin. What David has done so well this week is score heavily and look fluent when in amongst the balls. We all know that Gilbert is a heavy scorer but his recent run to the semi-finals of the Ruhr Open looks to have given him some valuable confidence. He once said he had the worst attitude in snooker and never came across as a man with much belief in his endless potential. Now though his confidence is building and no longer is he going to carry tags like the best player from down in the 30's and 40's of the rankings. His run in the 2012 World Championships was when I really wanted him to kick forwards but he has had to wait quite a while since then for the huge opportunity that presents itself tomorrow. I just hope for his sake that he has used his day off to come to terms with his achievement and now prepare fully to give it his very best shot tomorrow.

As for John Higgins, he comes into the final as a massive favourite and that with itself brings it's own pressures of expectation. The Scot is very experienced though and he will take nothing for granted knowing the threats that Gilbert presents. On the other hand, Higgins has looked unstoppable all week. The 6-0 win against one of my favourites to win the title this week in Shaun Murphy made me sit up and think that we were looking at the winner this week. He was superb from start to finish, and he was once again when he took on Selby in the semi-finals who was another of my favourites for this weeks title. He really looked like John Higgins at his very best and absolutely played his opponents into the ground with heavy scoring and key clearances at big moments in the match. There's very little his opponents have been able to do. Even against Michael Holt at 3-1 down he rattled off five frames in a row including two centuries to extinguish any threats to his challenge this week. After winning the Welsh Open and Australian Open already this year, John is beginning to look hungry again and the poor inconsistencies that had crept into his game appear to have been banished. My worry for Gilbert is that if he gets anywhere near the winning line he may start to falter and we know that Higgins will not, but that is a big if in itself.

Final Prediction: Higgins to put in a complete performance and win 10-5.


It really has been another thoroughly enjoyable week of snooker and my personal highlight has been seeing the likes of David Gilbert and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh rise through the pack to display their potential to the world once again. Coming up next after tomorrow's final is the Bulgarian Open which starts only a few days from now on Friday, and then straight after that the Champion of Champions event in Coventry follows so plenty more quality snooker to come and plenty more contributions on here from me.