Judd Trump beats John Higgins in record-breaking final to win maiden World Snooker Championship title

Judd Trump has won his first World Snooker Championship title in fine style with a dominant 18-9 win over John Higgins in a breathtaking, high-quality final at The Crucible that eventually proved to be a procession.

After a staggering run of form, the 29-year-old headed into Monday's truncated evening session needing just two more frames to complete the Triple Crown to go along with his 2011 UK Championship and 2019 Masters successes, and breezed to a break of 94 before a 63 was enough to seal victory and £500,000 in prize money as a well-beaten Higgins conceded.

After the opening session of a rematch of the memorable 2011 final finished all square at four frames apiece, the clinical Trump went into the second day of play holding a dominant 12-5 advantage after reeling off eight frames in a row on a pivotal Sunday evening in a devastating display of cue power, sheer skill and unerring accuracy.

Higgins looked to turn the tide in the opening pair of frames on Monday and appeared on track to record the first maximum break in final history at The Crucible, pulling off a sensational double to pot the final red before surprisingly missing the final black off its spot to end his 147 attempt on 113.

A further break of 59 saw him reduce the deficit further, only for Trump to hit back with breaks of 101 and 71 to restore his seven-frame lead at the mid-session interval.

Another magnificent century break from the Bristolian (126) increased his advantage, but Higgins took the next frame to ensure the best-of-35 match would continue into the evening.

A break of 70 from the Wizard of Wishaw gave rise to faint hope of a remarkable comeback, yet Trump was undeterred as he made the 100th century of the competition and record 11th of the match, maintained that seven-frame buffer and looked on course for his own maximum before missing a red to the middle pocket.

While Trump is celebrating his first World Championship triumph, for Higgins the defeat represents his third in a row in The Crucible showpiece.

The Scot - world champion in 1998, 2007, 2009 and 2011 - blew a sizeable lead against defending champion Mark Selby in 2017 before falling agonisingly short with an impressive comeback attempt against Mark Williams last year.