John Higgins thrashed Kyren Wilson to set up a mouthwatering Players Championship final against Ronnie O’Sullivan on Sunday.
With O’Sullivan already progressing into a record-equalling 57th ranking event final, Higgins joined him with a comfortable 6-1 win over Wilson.
Higgins has been in fine form in Milton Keynes and the result of this semi-final never looked in doubt from the first break.
The 45-year-old had not dropped a frame in the last two rounds and set about earning his place in the final with breaks of 108, 88 and 70.
Now Higgins, ranked number six in the world, will face O’Sullivan – a player he believes is in the tier above his own game.
“I’ve always said it, he is the best ever in my eyes – it is as simple as that,” Higgins told World Snooker Tour.
“I have grown up with him and I think me more than most I realise he is still winning these big events and still really, really up there challenging (Mark) Selby, (Neil) Robertson and (Judd) Trump – beating them and competing with them.
“Whereas I think the likes of myself and Mark Williams are in the tier below that where we try and nick a tournament here or there.
“That is why I totally respect him, in that way he is totally incredible.”
Wilson looked like he had started to work his way back into the match, having been outplayed early on, but would ultimately lose the fifth frame by a single point as Higgins completed a clearance of 51 to extend his advantage.
“I missed a couple in the first four frames and got away with a couple here or there,” he added.
“So at 4-0 I was absolutely delighted and then a massive frame after the mid-session interval where it looked like he was going to go 4-1 but when I nicked that to go 5-0 I thought ‘right, you’re nearly there.
“I’m over the moon. It is a brilliant win for me, Kyren is up there with the top players in the world.”
World number five Wilson would get a frame on the board as the 29-year-old rattled in a 102 break – only for Higgins to seal victory in the following frame.
