‘My head was spinning’ – Mark Selby STUNNED by ‘warrior’ John Higgins after comeback win
MARK SELBY admitted his “head was spinning” after John Higgins surged to a stunning Tour Championship win.
The Wizard of Wishaw reeled off five consecutive frames to win a thriller 10-8 in Manchester on Sunday.
Selby had taken a 8-5 lead in the contest and looked set for a fourth title of the season.
But Higgins turned on the style to clinch a historic win and bag a £150,000 windfall.
Selby told WST: “John was incredible from 8-5.
“I missed a pink to the middle at 8-7, apart from that I didn’t do a lot wrong, but my head was spinning.
“Every mistake I made, John punished me, he stood up like the warrior he is.”
Higgins described the comeback as his “best ever win” in an emotional interview following the match.
Both players put on a show in Sunday’s final, making four centuries each.
Higgins said: “At 5-1 I was just concentrating on winning one of the final two frames.
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“When Mark made one of the two centuries I was thinking here he comes! He’s done it so many times.
“I was trying to stay positive, but it’s incredibly difficult because you’re hitting your head against a brick wall sometimes. My standard was beginning to dip a little bit.
“My belief wasn’t dipping but my standard was dipping. Sometimes the balls start going for you and that starts to change.
“If I can do that against someone like Mark Selby then that should give me an incredible amount of belief that I can still mix it with the best players.
“To be 5-1 in front against Mark and then 8-5 behind he was just shutting me out totally. It’s my best ever win.”
Higgins has risen to third in the rankings following his win.
Both the Scot and Selby will now look forward to next month’s World Championship at the Crucible.
No Tour Championship winner has ever gone on to become world champion in the same year.
Four-time world champion Higgins – who last won the Crucible crown in 2011 – will be hoping to reverse that trend.