50-Year-Old Snooker Star Stages Epic Comeback at Masters

At 50 years old, John Higgins just reminded the world that champions never stop fighting.

The Scottish snooker legend battled back from being down 3-0 and 5-3 against world number one Judd Trump to win 6-5 in a thrilling Masters semifinal at London's Alexandra Palace. He'll now face Kyren Wilson in Sunday's final, his first Masters championship match since 2021.

The comeback seemed impossible early on. Higgins had lost his previous seven matches against Trump and made a series of costly errors in the opening frames.

But when Trump missed critical shots in the fourth frame, Higgins found his opening. "The fourth frame was massive because if he goes 4-0 it's done, but at 3-1 I felt good," Higgins told BBC Sport.

The turning point came in the ninth frame when Trump, leading and needing just four balls to seal victory, incredibly missed a routine brown. Higgins seized the moment, crafting pressure breaks of 70 and 57 to win three straight frames and complete the remarkable turnaround.

The victory makes Higgins the oldest player ever to reach the final of a Triple Crown event, snooker's most prestigious tournaments. He last won a Triple Crown title 14 years ago and had briefly dropped out of the top 16 rankings before finding new life in his game.

Why This Inspires

Higgins' resurgence comes after years of heartbreaking defeats, including three straight World Championship final losses between 2017 and 2019. He had begun to wonder if his time competing at the highest level had passed.

"Deep down you are maybe thinking your time has run out to be playing in these massive finals," Higgins said. "People will laugh but I think I'm a better player now than I've ever been."

His opponent Sunday will be 2024 world champion Kyren Wilson, who survived his own 6-5 thriller against Chinese rising star Wu Yize. Wilson, who admitted being close to a "mental breakdown" at his last tournament, produced a sublime match-winning break of 116 after Wu missed a routine red that could have sealed the match.

Both semifinals delivered the kind of drama that makes snooker captivating, with over 2,000 fans witnessing two veterans refusing to surrender when defeat seemed certain.

Higgins' fighting spirit proves that passion and determination can overcome youth and rankings, inspiring athletes of all ages to never count themselves out.