Snooker: Higgins Takes Preston Title

John Higgins set two world records as he overwhelmed the No1-ranked Ronnie O'Sullivan 9-2 to win the £60,000 first prize in the grand prix here last night.

Never before has a player made centuries in four consecutive frames but, with 103 in the last frame of the afternoon and 104, 138 and 128 in the first three of the evening, he not only achieved that feat but set a second record of 494 unanswered points, surpassing his own mark of 485 in ranking events and Stephen Hendry's 487 in all tournaments.

"I've never seen anything like it," said O'Sullivan, who lost seven successive frames from 2-2 and took £30,000 as runner-up. When Higgins eventually missed on 21 in what proved the concluding frame, O'Sullivan made 49 but lost position and did not score again. The result improved the 30-year-old Scot's record to 17 titles from 27 ranking finals; it was only O'Sullivan's sixth defeat in 24 such finals.

"I don't think I've ever played better but you've got to be right at the top of your form to beat someone like Ronnie," said Higgins. "It reminded me of how I played a few years ago, just concentrating on every single shot. That's how it's meant to be. There wasn't any doubt in my mind."

O'Sullivan acknowledged his opponent's excellence: "At the end I just felt out of place out there. It was a bizarre experience. Today is all about John."

This clinical performance saw Higgins back to the kind of form which gave him the 1998 world title and started a two-year tenure at the top of the world rankings. He lost the edge from his game during the 2001-2 season, when he became preoccupied with the joys of fatherhood. His wife, Denise, confirmed that she had "to push him out of the house to practise".

Last November's British Open was the first ranking title he had won for three years. Coming to Preston ranked sixth, his lowest since he was No1, he lost only five frames in his first four matches and struck top form in his semi-final against Hendry, who led him 3-1, 48-0, only for Higgins to surge to a 6-4 victory.

He was the more quickly away in the final, breaks of 68 and 67 assisting him to a 2-0 lead. O'Sullivan's frame-clinchers of 69 and 62 saw him equalise at 2-2 but his long potting, with only 20% of his attempts from 6ft or more finding the target, was unusually weak and his whole performance was subdued.

Down 3-2 after not potting a ball in the fifth, he led by 54 in the sixth only to fail at a long pot well within his normal compass and had to watch Higgins snatch the frame on the black with a 60 clearance. Higgins made it 5-2 with the 103 which ended the afternoon and then came the evening century hat-trick.