John Higgins has booked his place in the final of the China Championship after claiming a 6-3 victory over Lyu Haotian on Saturday.

The four-time world champion, who is a previous winner of the tournament in China following his triumph when it was a non-ranking event in 2016, raced into a 5-1 lead and, despite losing back-to-back frames, he was able to seal the win with a break of 62 in the ninth frame.

Higgins will now face either Mark Selby in Sunday’s final as he goes in search of his 31st title on the professional tour and first since his triumph at the Welsh Open in March. The 43-year-old has not been at his sparkling best throughout this week’s tournament as he has yet to record a century break, and he conceded he would have lost to Lyu had the Chinese player replicated his form from earlier in the week.

“The conditions today were beautiful, having been difficult earlier in the week,” Higgins told the world snooker website. “That threw Lyu just a bit more than me, he was hitting everything thick because the table was so reactive.

“If Lyu had played today the same way he did in the quarter-finals I would have been in for a really tough game. But luckily for me he wasn’t at his best and I just picked up the pieces. I don’t know how I’m in the final but obviously I’m delighted.”

Indeed, Higgins does not seem to be full of confidence heading into Sunday’s final and he admits if he comes up against world number one Selby then he will most certainly be the underdog.

He added: “If I play Mark Selby in the final then I’ll be a big underdog, the way I’m playing.”