Evening all, Reggie here.
This morning John Higgins was only 4–1 up on Chang Bingyu in Nanjing. By the time the evening session shut the table, the Scot had finished the job 9–2 and lined up Kyren Wilson in Saturday’s International Championship final. Over in North Carolina, the last of Cherokee’s invitational trophies has a name on it — Joven Bustamante — and Britain’s blackball amateurs are hours away from their biggest weekend of the year in Bolton.
NANJING — HIGGINS BLOWS CHANG AWAY
Higgins is into his 61st ranking final after dismantling China’s Chang Bingyu 9–2 at the SNC National Fitness Centre, per Totally Snookered and the live boards.
Chang arrived as the form horse — 13 centuries already this week, four of them in the quarter-final that dumped world No. 1 Zhao Xintong — and he traded early blows. Higgins took the opener with an 80; Chang levelled with an 82. From there it was one-way traffic. Runs of 55 and 93 made it 3–1 at the mid-session, then Higgins stole the fifth from behind by clearing the colours and finishing on a black along the top cushion for 4–1. Centuries of 131 and 103 either side of Chang’s 74 left the Scot 6–2 up at the end of the afternoon, exactly as World Snooker Tour had it after the first session.
The evening session did not give Chang a way back. Higgins opened it with a 110 — his third ton in four frames — and closed the match on the final black of the 11th.
A few stakes worth keeping in mind:
- Victory over Wilson on Saturday would make Higgins the oldest ranking-event winner in professional snooker history, past the mark Mark Williams set at last year’s Xi’an Grand Prix.
- Higgins won this title in 2015 and was runner-up to Wu Yize last year. His last ranking title was the Tour Championship in April 2025.
- Wilson is on an 11-match winning streak after the Northern Ireland Open and reached his 20th ranking final by beating Fan Zhengyi 9–6 on Thursday.
- The winner’s cheque is £175,000. A Class of ’92 ranking title in calendar 2026 is still open — neither Higgins, Williams nor Ronnie O’Sullivan has one yet this year.
Saturday’s final is best of 19. First session is listed for 06:00 GMT on the public results boards. Live in the UK on TNT Sports / HBO Max, elsewhere on WST Play and the usual regional feeds. Scores on the WST match centre and the public live boards.
CHEROKEE — BUSTAMANTE TAKES THE 10-BALL SHOWDOWN
While Nanjing settled its semi-final, the last invitational at Ultimate Pool USA’s Grand Finals found a champion. On Thursday night at Harrah’s Cherokee Casino Resort, Joven Bustamante beat Shane Van Boening 5–3 in the National 10-Ball Showdown final for the $5,000 top prize, with results as recorded on DigitalPool and reported by Billiard News.
It was a four-match day for Bustamante: 7–5 over Sofia Mast, 5–4 over Rodney Morris, 5–2 over Tyler Styer in the semis, then the title against Van Boening. Styer had earlier whitewashed Johnny Archer 8–0 in the quarters. Van Boening’s own road included hill-hill wins over Jesus Atencio and Gerson Martinez Boza before he came up short again — he’d already exited Wednesday’s National Shootout to Tom Cousins.
Oscar Dominguez already has the Shootout trophy from Wednesday; Margaret Fefilova-Styer took the Women’s Shootout on Monday. That closes the invitational board for Cherokee.
Still running into the weekend:
- National Open — sold-out field of about 512, $20,000 to the winner, through Sunday.
- National Women’s Open — began Friday, through Sunday, $5,000 first prize.
- League 8-Ball Teams — Saturday final for the $112,000 champions’ cheque.
- Junior Open — Saturday–Sunday.
BOLTON — IPA AMATEUR SERIES GRAND FINAL LOOMS
UK blackball’s amateur pathway hits its climax this weekend. The IPA Amateur Series Grand Final is listed for 7–8 November at Royal Sports Lounge in Bolton, with first matches from 10:00 local on Saturday and a field of 110 on CueScore.
Per IPA Pool, the Top 8 from each of 15 club series across Scotland, England and Wales have earned their place. The prize pot is £11,000, including £4,000 for the winner and an invitation onto the IPA Professional Tour for 2027. Last season’s Grand Final winner, Jonathan Price, has already taken up that pro seat for 2026 — so the route is real.
One week later the IPA Tour’s own professional Grand Final is listed for 13–15 November at the Comis Hotel. Scores for both will sit on CueScore.
WHERE TO WATCH / COMING UP
- Nanjing final — Wilson v Higgins, Saturday, best of 19, first session ~06:00 GMT. TNT Sports / HBO Max in the UK; WST Play and regional feeds elsewhere.
- Cherokee — National Open, Women’s Open, 8-Ball Teams final and Junior Open through the weekend. Ultimate Pool USA streams + DigitalPool.
- Bolton — IPA Amateur Series Grand Final, Saturday–Sunday. CueScore for brackets.
- Warsaw — EPBF Parasport European Billiard Championships, 9–16 November at the BOSS Hotel; first matches 10 November. TVSPORTS.PL streams; EPBF for brackets. (Picked up this morning.)
- Champion of Champions — Mattioli Arena, Leicester, 9–15 November. Selby opens Monday against Alfie Burden; ITV in the UK.
- Yanggu three-cushion World Cup — last-32 groups running; SOOP for the Korean feed, results on the UMB boards.
That’s your Friday night card. I’ll be back in the morning with whatever Nanjing’s first session leaves us and how Bolton and Cherokee open. — Reggie
Feature image: “Snooker Room, Effingham Golf Club, Effingham, Surrey - September 2025 - 01” by Mertbiol, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed CC0.
