Higgins becomes first man through to final - 01/12/2007

AECC, Aberdeen - First semi-final
John Higgins 5-3 Ding Junhui (first to 5)
Higgins' scores first
50-40 (Higgins 41), 73-31 (Higgins 60, Ding 30), 0-100 (Ding 100), 0-77 (Ding 41, 36), 116-0 (Higgins 116), 52-66, 119-3 (Higgins 84, 31), 72-1 (Higgins 72)

JOHN Higgins has secured his place in the final of the 2007 PartyBets.com Premier League Snooker competition.

Higgins defeated Ding Junhui 5-3 in the first semi-final at the AECC in Aberdeen and will now meet either Stephen Hendry or Ronnie O'Sullivan on Sunday, December 2 for the trophy.

"I would love to play Stephen in the final," said Higgins.

"He is a player I've always looked up to and he is obviously from Scotland as well so there would be big crowd up here in Aberdeen. Ronnie is the favourite but if Stephen plays well he has got a chance.

"I'm just delighted to win and I had a chance to go 4-2 ahead but when he came back for 3-3 I was pretty disappointed.

"After that I was chuffed to win. Ding is always going to be a winner in the future and it's great to play against him as you know you have to play as well as you can to stand a chance of beating him."

Ding had finished top of the league after the group phase but still had an extremely difficult match in the semi-final as he was up against reigning World Champion Higgins.

The Scot, who had made a slow start but secured a final-four spot with a victory over Steve Davis in his last match, received a great reception from the Aberdeen crowd.

The opening frame was a low-scoring affair as both players showed their skill in positional play with a length safety battle. Ding, who hit a new world record of 495 unanswered points against Stephen Hendry last week, looked to have the frame in the bag as he moved 31 in front.

But Higgins was given another opportunity and a break of 41, after a fine long red opener, saw him move into a 1-0 lead.

It became 2-0 after Ding faltered after a run of 31, but Higgins compiled a break of 60 to move well ahead with only one red left.

Ding still had a chance but the Chinese player made a poor safety to leave Higgins with an opportunity of potting the red into a middle pocket and the frame was over.

There had been 30 centuries so far in the 2007 Premier League Snooker, but that figure become 31 as Ding rattled in a 100 for his 13th century of this year's tournament.

Higgins was again rooted to his seat in the fourth frame as runs of 41 and 36 made it 2-2 and 177 points without reply. As expected, it was proving to be a top quality affair and this time it was Ding's turn to spend some time watching as Higgins fired 116 without reply to regain the lead at 3-2.

The sixth frame was the longest of the match by some distance as both players showed some nerves as they were closing in on a final spot.

Higgins had the first opportunity as the reds were split well and the Scot looked likely to produce a substantial break. But a missed black off the spot ended those hopes early on, before Ding fouled twice aiming for the yellow after losing position.

Ding eventually moved 29 ahead but had not done enough to win the frame as there was still 34 points left on the table. However, Higgins, with only two balls remaining, missed the pink it what could prove to be a critical error.

With the score now at 3-3, whichever player was the first to win two more frames would be in the 2007 final.

But Higgins did not let his misses get to him as he instantly regained his form and breaks of 84 and 31 took him in sight of the finish line. He reached the final with a break of 72 in the seventh frame.