Higgins Digs Deep Again to Down Selby and Set Up Zhao Semi-Final at Tour Championship
The Pick: Back Higgins Each-Way in the Tour Championship Outright
John Higgins is playing like a man half his age. At 50 years old, the Wizard of Wishaw has now produced back-to-back comebacks at the Tour Championship in Manchester — and if you haven't already got him onside in the outright market, it's not too late to find value each-way with most major bookmakers. More on the odds below, but first let's talk about what happened on Thursday evening, because it was quite the spectacle.
The Analysis: A Carbon Copy of Last Year's Final
Higgins and Selby served up a quarter-final that felt eerily familiar. The Scot took the opening session in control, only for Selby to claw his way back with a brace of big breaks — a 127 and a 131 — as the Leicester man reeled off five consecutive frames to lead 8-5. At that point, the momentum was firmly with the four-time world champion, and you could forgive anyone for thinking the Higgins revival story was about to hit a roadblock.
It didn't. Instead, what followed was a masterclass in composure and snooker intelligence. Higgins, showing the kind of grit that has defined his career across three decades at the top, knocked in five significant contributions — 56, 92, 74, 78 and 72 — to reel off five frames himself and close out a 10-8 victory. Selby was admittedly unlucky with the run of the balls at key moments, but Higgins was clinical enough to make that count. As the man himself put it after the match: "I was delighted the way I dug in." That's an understatement if ever there was one.
This is now a direct repeat of last year's Tour Championship final, which Higgins also won. He knows how to win this tournament, he knows how to beat Selby when it matters, and he now faces world champion Zhao Xintong in Saturday's semi-final (13:00 BST). Zhao is in devastating form — he dismantled Chris Wakelin 10-4 on Thursday evening with breaks of 103, 93, 120, 134, 108 and 101 — so this is no gimme. But Higgins thriving as the underdog? We've seen that film before.
The Rest of the Draw: Robertson v Trump on Friday
The other semi-final slot on the bottom half of the draw went to Neil Robertson, who recovered from 7-5 down to beat Barry Hawkins 10-8 in another absorbing quarter-final. Robertson, who won this very tournament in both 2021 and 2022, showed the resilience he'll need heading into the business end of the season — with the World Championship at the Crucible now just weeks away. He meets world number one Judd Trump on Friday (13:00 BST), and that match-up alone is worth setting the alarm for.
Robertson was candid about his struggles against Hawkins: "Things weren't going well. At 7-5 I had to regroup." He also made the point that this kind of fight-back is exactly the preparation he needs ahead of Sheffield, where momentum can shift in a heartbeat across long-format matches. It's a fair point, and it makes him a dangerous opponent for Trump on Friday.
The Odds: Tour Championship Outright Market
| Player | Fractional Odds | Decimal Odds | Bookmaker (approx.) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Judd Trump | 6/4 | 2.50 | Bet365 / William Hill |
| Zhao Xintong | 9/4 | 3.25 | Betfair / Paddy Power |
| Neil Robertson | 3/1 | 4.00 | Ladbrokes / Coral |
| John Higgins | 4/1 | 5.00 | Bet365 / Sky Bet |
Odds correct at time of writing and subject to change. Always check your chosen bookmaker for the latest prices.
At 4/1, Higgins represents the standout each-way option in a four-horse race. He's the defending champion, he's already shown he can find his best form under pressure this week, and his semi-final against Zhao — while tough — is far from unwinnable. Trump is the favourite for good reason, but at those prices in a semi-final format, there's little margin for error. Robertson at 3/1 is solid, but Higgins at 4/1 for a man who just repeated a final performance from 12 months ago? That's where the value sits.
The Verdict
John Higgins is writing one of the great late-career stories in snooker. Whether he can go all the way this weekend and lift the Tour Championship for the second year running remains to be seen — Zhao is formidable and Trump looms as a potential final opponent. But if you're looking for a selection ahead of the semi-finals, Higgins each-way at 4/1 is the pick. He's done it before, he's doing it again, and at 50 years of age, he's still one of the most dangerous players on the tour when the pressure is highest.
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