In a fierce battle befitting of a final, Mark Selby edged past Jack Lisowski to lift Stephen Hendry trophy and pocket a hefty sum of £70,000.
The Jester from Leicester has now become the first and only player to win two Home Nations series titles in a single season. Selby won the English Open back in October, annihilating David Gilbert 9-1 to lift the Steve Davis trophy.
Lisowski, who is making his third ranking final yet, is still in search of a trophy proved to be a gutsy challenge, but Selby fended off competition from his compatriot to seal the win.
Lisowski, 28, started on the front foot, potting with his opening shot and dashing off to take the lead with breaks of 73 and 58 in the opening frame.
He then took the game even further, grabbing the second frame after capitalizing on a mistake from Selby to take a 2-0 lead.
The 28-year-old who was growing in confidence and free-flowing potting form looked unafraid to take advantage of any chances at all. However, karma soon caught up with as he made similar mistakes as those of Selby’s. The English Open winner stormed back into the game with breaks of 78 and 75 to settle the scores of 2-2.
After the mid-session interval, there was a shift in the momentum of the game with Lisowski upping his game even further, but it was Selby who came out tops, with a century.
That proved to be the turning point in the match-up as Selby switched things up, picking three frames on the bounce to lead 5-3. At that point, he needed just four more to lift the Stephen Hendry title.
Lisowski, world number 14, continued to peg his compatriot, but Selby, time and again, nudged past his opponent just beautifully well.
It was finally over when Selby racked up a break of 79 in the 15th frame of the game to seal a 9-6 win over Lisowski.
Three-time world Champion, Selby was extremely joyful and all cheers for his second title of the season. The Jester, who in Glasgow celebrated the win with his family, is now poised to go home with the £70,000 up for grabs for the winner of the Scottish Open.
Written by: Roland Arum