Kyren Wilson holds off John Higgins to secure his first Masters title

Kyren Wilson collected his first Masters title to thwart John Higgins’s hopes of making more history after a cagey final replete with uncharacteristic errors from both players.

Higgins was seeking a third Masters title at Alexandra Palace – 20 years after he last lifted the trophy – and, at 50, the Scot had become the oldest player to reach the final of a triple crown event.

But it was a low-quality showpiece, with the two-time runner-up Wilson eking out a 5-3 lead at the end of the first session before digging in to claim a 10-6 win and the £350,000 top prize.

“In 2018 I lost in the final and I cried like a little girl, I’m trying not to cry now because it means so much to me,” Wilson told the BBC afterwards. “It was an absolute honour and privilege to share the table with not only a legend, but an idol of mine – I don’t ever want to tell him that because I want to try and beat him.

“It was just an absolute dogfight from frame one and I just tried to be as dogged as John has been over the years. I’m glad he’s managed to give me one for a change.”

Higgins beat the reigning world champion, Zhao Xintong, and the current world No 1, Judd Trump, both in final frame deciders, to reach the final but the Scot said he was well below his best on Sunday. “I was just useless,” he said. “Take no credit away, Kyren was by far the better player. He was totally dominant – it wasn’t even a 10-6 match.”

Higgins went 1-0 up with a break of 58 but despite establishing a 63-point lead in the second frame, he missed three simple pots and Wilson cleared up to level.

Wilson found some momentum to go 3-1 up and although Higgins used all of his experience to take the next two frames, back-to-back century breaks from the Englishman gave him a 5-3 lead heading into the evening.

A break of 71 narrowed the gap but Higgins’s attempt at a risky double backfired as Wilson mopped up to restore his two-frame advantage.

Kyren Wilson broke his cue at the start of the campaign and said he was ‘very lost’ after an early exit at the UK Championship. Photograph: John Walton/PA

Wilson was far from fluent but he was able to pull away with Higgins unable to capitalise on his opponents’ errors. A 78-break – Wilson’s only 50-plus break of the night – put him 9-5 ahead and although Higgins refused to go down without a fight, the 34-year-old got over the line.

Wilson broke his cue at the start of the campaign and admitted he was “very lost” and “very close to … a mental breakdown” during his last-32 defeat by Elliot Slessor at the UK Championship last month.

“I thought at the UK, ‘I’m gone’, I honestly didn’t know if I was ever going to be back in the winner’s enclosure,” the 2024 world champion said.