Fu Sets Up Higgins Final

Marco Fu continued his blistering form  at the Coral Scottish Open as he hammered Yu Delu 6-1 to set up a final clash with John Higgins.

Hong Kong’s 38-year-old Fu has made a remarkable ten centuries and 15 more breaks over 50 on his way to the final in Glasgow, playing perhaps the best snooker of his career.

But he’ll have his toughest test yet against local favourite Higgins, with first to nine frames on Sunday to win the £70,000 top prize and the inaugural Stephen Hendry Trophy.

World number 14 Fu will be playing in the seventh ranking event final of his career and aiming for his third title, as well as his second in Scotland having beaten Ronnie O’Sullivan in the final of the Grand Prix in Aberdeen back in 2007. He has won eight of his 14 career meetings with Higgins so will be confident of landing the silverware this time and winning his first ranking title since the 2013 Australian Open.

In fact Fu struggled for form in the first few months of the season, failing to get beyond the last 32 of a ranking event until the recent UK Championship where he got to the semi-finals before an agonising 6-5 defeat against Ronnie O’Sullivan. He has recovered from that blow superbly to go one step further in Glasgow.

After winning a scrappy opening frame tonight he fired breaks of 72 and 73 to go 3-0 ahead. China’s Yu, playing in his first ranking event semi-final, pulled one back after trapping his opponent in a snooker on the last red in frame four.

But after the interval it was one-way traffic in Fu’s favour as he compiled fluent runs of 100, 130 and 87 to cross the finish line.

“I scored heavily again and I had the run of the ball,” said Fu. “In a pro tournament this has been the best week of my career. It doesn’t mean I’m going to win tomorrow but it does give me a lot of confidence.

“I’m looking forward to playing John in Glasgow, it will be a big occasion like playing Jimmy or Ronnie in London. When I concentrate during a match I don’t worry about the crowd, I just play the balls. The crowd has been very fair all week.

“I’ll try not to think about winning the title because I’m still nine frames away. If I get to eight and get a chance then I’ll think about it. I’ll just treat it as a normal match and keep doing the same things I’ve been doing all week.”