With Stephen Maguire, reigning champion Ali Carter and the world’s best player Ronnie O’Sullivan all in the semi-finals of the 2010 Welsh Open – John Higgins didn’t particularly stand out as the favourite to win the Welsh Open despite being snooker’s ‘Mr. Consistent’.

The Scot’s convincing 5-2 win against Mark Selby should have been a clear indicator that Higgins meant business in this year’s tournament at the Newport Centre, though; and he duly sprang a surprise by beating the in-form O’Sullivan for a place in the final.

Although this was easily Higgins’ toughest test in the competition, he still needed to overcome the challenge of the 2009 Welsh Open champion, Ali Carter, to land his hands on the rankings event trophy for a second time.

Regardless of his form coming into the tournament’s final, few could have imagined the one-sided nature of the opening session. The reigning world champion stormed to a 5-0 lead – hitting several 80+ breaks in the process – leaving his opponent wondering how to force his way into the match against a man relentless on his pursuit for glory.

Earlier in the day, sport’s focus had been firmly fixed on Britain’s Andy Murray, who despite his best efforts, was comprehensively beaten in the Australian Open final by the great Roger Federer.

It was a similar story in south-east Wales yesterday evening. Carter, assuming the role of Murray, was simply outclassed by Higgins. And when he produces that level of snooker it’s almost impossible to stop the man nicknamed the Wizard of Wishaw.

Higgins took a 6-2 lead going into the evening session; and during the interval the engravers must have been busy carving his name into the trophy because the Scot’s pending victory seemed inevitable.

It proved exactly that. The 35-year-old won the final two frames of the final session to record an emphatic 9-4 victory against Carter and seal the Welsh Open title for the first time in a decade.

This latest win took the 2009 Player of the Year’s ranking event tally to 21 – just one behind O’Sullivan – and he was delighted to win the Newport tournament for a second time.

Higgins said: “I was delighted with the way I played for the first five frames. That was the best I’d ever felt really. I was just properly zoned in.

“It’s hard to win any tournament these days with the quality of players around but I’m over the moon about winning the Welsh Open for a second time.

“The crowd here are one of the best. The Newport Centre is a great arena to play in.”

The three-time World Champion is now expected to overtake the Rocket at the top of the world rankings – if he matches his display at next month’s China Open then he will guarantee his place at the top of the rankings for the start of the 2010/11 season.

Meanwhile, Carter was slightly despondent that he had failed to retain his Welsh Open title, but conceded he had been beaten fairly by the better player on the night.

“I was under all sorts of pressure and I was just glad to make a game of it. I would have been glad to get back to 7-5, but he’s done me 9-4 in the end,” the 30-year-old added.

“The crowd have been great this week and I am disappointed I couldn’t keep my title, but I had a good go.”

The China Open, hosted at the Beijing University Students Gymnasium in the country’s capital, will begin on March 29th and conclude on April 4th; and Higgins will be looking to round off a spectacular season with a victory in the far-east, before another World Snooker Championship at the Crucible in May.

Rob Swan.