Tour Championship 2025: Mark Selby's last meeting with John Higgins was probably the worst in their epic 20-year rivalry

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Mark Selby and John Higgins will write the latest chapter in an epic 20-year rivalry when they meet in the final of the Tour Championship in Manchester. The duo, both four-time world champions, have impressed at the season's penultimate ranking event, with Selby demolishing Ding Junhui 10-2 in the semi-finals on Saturday after Higgins completed a fine 10-7 win against Barry Hawkins on Friday.

Selby makes clearance to seal victory in five-hour 'war of attrition' over Higgins

Video credit: TNT Sports

Mark Selby and John Higgins will do battle in a heavyweight Tour Championship final in Manchester on Sunday – 20 years after they first met on the main professional circuit.

The duo are both four-time world champions, and have contested two Crucible finals with both men enjoying one win apiece in the sport's biggest match, Higgins winning 18-13 in 2007 with Selby completing an 18-15 victory a decade later.

They have also met in a major final this season with Selby coming out on top 10-5 in the British Open final in Cheltenham in September.

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Despite their glorious success on the old green baize, their last meeting in Wales was probably the worst in the storied history of their rivalry, which sees Selby lead 16-8 on the career head-to-heads.

One for the purists, perhaps, but not the sort of joust to win a popularity contest.

A Welsh Open quarter-final match in Llandudno that began at 12pm on Friday, February 14 did not finish until around 6pm, in a gruelling five-hour duel that saw Selby scrape through 5-4.

The scheduled second quarter-final between Luca Brecel and Jackson Page was forced to start on another table, such was the ponderous nature of the opening match, with several frames lasting over 30 minutes.

'Could be a big moment' - Epic fluke sees Higgins forge ahead in marathon fifth frame

Video credit: TNT Sports

In the end, it proved a pivotal victory, with Selby progressing to claim his 24th ranking event title with a 9-6 win over Stephen Maguire 17 years after the Leicester man's first at the same tournament.

"We both struggled and brought each other down, there were a lot of scrappy frames," said Selby, who lost his first meeting with Higgins 10-5 in the last 32 of the 2005 World Championship.

"If one of us had played better, the other might have raised his game. The only positive for me is that I got over the line and I can only improve tomorrow.

"If I had lost I would have been gutted, but now I can put that behind me."

In a green baize war of attrition that ran for almost five hours at Venue Cymru, Selby led 2-0, Higgins 3-2 and Selby 4-3 before winning a decider that could have gone either way.

Higgins had the chance to claim his first win over Selby since 2021 in the final frame, but somehow didn't land on a red from a blue to right middle, before a poor safety enabled his opponent to mop up with a closing break of 84.

"It was a mammoth game, I gave it everything," said Higgins. "I know the shots, but I've got deficiencies in my game."

It perhaps turned out to be a blessing in disguise for the Scotsman, who ended his four-year wait for a major trophy a month later with a 10-6 final win over Joe O'Connor at the World Open in Yushan.

Selby has reached the Tour Championship final with the concession of only three frames, with one-sided victories over Neil Robertson (10-1) and Ding Junhui (10-2).

Higgins, meanwhile, compiled seven centuries in victories over Xiao Guodong (10-3) and Barry Hawkins (10-7).

A win for Higgins would also see him leapfrog Selby as third seed for the World Championship later this month, April 19-May 5, live on TNT Sports and discovery+.

The two-session final begins at 1pm on Sunday with the first man to 10 frames claiming the trophy and £150,000 first prize.