John Higgins fulfilled a career-long ambition by winning a world-ranking tournament in his native Scotland when he beat Ryan Day 9-7 in the final of the Royal London Watches Grand Prix at the Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre, Glasgow, last night.

Higgins, born and raised in Wishaw, 15 miles from the venue, could not disguise his emotion after collecting the £75,000 first prize and ending a frustratingly unproductive spell since he became world champion for the second time in 2007.

Day, who compiled five century breaks in his previous two matches, committed numerous errors during the opening session, after which Higgins led 5-2 without approaching his best. When Higgins moved 7-2 ahead, stealing the ninth frame on the pink from 52-0 in arrears, a swift denouement looked likely, but Day, beaten in the Shanghai Masters and Malta Cup finals last year, gave himself renewed hope by recovering to 8-7 adrift.

An increasingly concerned Higgins initiated the scoring in the sixteenth frame with a 53 break. Day continued to prove stubborn, but when he missed the penultimate red, Higgins stepped in to win his nineteenth world- ranking competition.

“I was fortunate to be so far in front and by the end I was just scrambling to get over the line,” Higgins, who equalled Stephen Hendry’s record of four Grand Prix triumphs, said. “I was missing more and more pots and struggling with position. Winning is a big relief.”

The World Championship, synonymous with the Crucible Theatre since 1977, is likely to remain at the Sheffield venue until at least 2015. While acknowledging that China and “the Middle East” had made enquiries about hosting the event, Sir Rodney Walker, chairman of the WPBSA, hopes to announce an extended partnership with the Crucible before next year’s World Championship.

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