Scots ace misses out on £150,000 Chinese takeaway
John Higgins suffered more agony at the hands of Judd Trump as he was edged out 6-5 in the semi-final of snooker’s World Open.
The Scot was gunning for revenge and a chance to claim the £150,000 first prize after losing last season’s World Championship Final to the Englishman.
But world No. 1 Trump kept his cool to set up at a f inal against Thai land’s Thepchaiya Un- Nooh in China. Higgins – who missed an easy pink when rallying from behind in the decider – said: “I’m disappointed with the way it finished. I’ve missed that pink and I don’t think I was going to clear up in that visit but I could have got myself back into it.
“I’m disappointed that I’ve put in my worst performance in a big occasion against Judd. We always seem to have dramatic matches – this time Judd pipped me at the finishing line.”
Trump said: “I thought I was going to lose at the end. I was missing chances because I was worried John was going to come back at me.
“In the end I did well to get over the line. I probably would have lost this match against John in the past.”
Un-Nooh came through a dramatic decider to down England’s Kyren Wilson 6-5 in the other semi.
World No.1 Novak D jokov ic w i l l p l ay D e n i s Shapovalov in today’s Paris Masters tennis final after Rafael Nadal withdrew with injury. Nada l , the s e cond seed, pul led out with an abdominal problem before the start of his semi-final with Canadian Shapovalov, 20.
Four- time Paris champ Djokovic, 32, earlier beat Grigor Dimitrov 7- 6 (7-5) 6- 4.
Defending champion Elina Svitolina will face world No.1 Ashleigh Barty in the WTA Finals showpiece in Shenzhen.
Ukrainian Svitolina, 25, had fought back to lead 5-7 6-3 4-1 when Belinda Bencic, 22, retired from their semi-final w ith cramp. Karol ina Pliskova, 27, forced the only break of the first set in the o t her s emi - f ina l but Aus t ra l ian Bar t y, 23 , controlled the second set.
Barty then claimed the decider, winning 4- 6 6-2 6-3 to reach today’s final.
She said: “I didn’t do much wrong in the first set and it was great to get another.”. Paisley’s Jack Carl in f inished an agonising fourth in yesterday’s Keirin f inal at the Track Cycling World Cup in Minsk, Belarus.
The 22-year-old world and Commonweal th s i l v e r medallist was second in his heat and third in the semifinals but narrowly missed out in the final. Dutchman Harrie Lavreysen struck gold with Russian Denis Dmitriev and Japan’s Koyu Matsui taking silver and bronze.
Carlin has an immediate opportunity to make amends at next week’s World Cup in Glasgow.
Te e n a g e r Ge o r g i a Adderley stayed on course for a hat-trick of British Junior squash titles with a routine semi-final victory at Nottingham University.
Edinburgh ace Adderley has yet to drop a game after continuing the defence of her Under-19 crown with an 11- 3, 11- 3, 11- 4 win over Birmingham’s Kiera Marshall.
She had earlier beaten Yorkshire’s Lydia Robinson in the last eight. The former Under-17 champion wi l l meet Essex player Alice Green in today’s final.
Great Britain’s women hockey side took a big step towards securing a place at Tokyo 2020 by beating Chile 3- 0 in the first leg of their Olympic qualifying play-off.
Izzy Petter’s goal f ive minutes after half-time put the defending Olympic champions in front at Lee Valley. Hannah Martin and Anna Toman then struck to ensure Mark Hager’s side have the advantage for today’s second leg.