MARCO FU fought back from 4-1 down to beat John Higgins and win his third ranking title with a 9-4 Scottish Open final victory Sunday.

    The Hong Kong cueman won eight frames in a row to claim his first ranking event since the 2013 Australian Open.

    Higgins, 41, began with three straight centuries and a 78 break to go 4-1 up, but Fu won three frames to level it.

    He took the first four before the evening session interval and sealed victory on the resumption.

    It was an extraordinary turnaround after Higgins started in such scintillating style, but the Scot’s form deserted him in the second session as Fu’s tactical strength and solid break-building prevailed.

    “I played great at the start and was feeling good but from 4-1, Marco just totally froze me out and played fantastically,” said Higgins, the world number three.

    It was Fu’s ninth in 15 career meetings with the four-time world champion, who was hoping to move clear of Steve Davis and Ronnie O’Sullivan, who also have 28 ranking titles, in the overall list behind Stephen Hendry’s record of 36.

    But Fu — who hit his 11th ton of the week to get to 3-1 and had runs of 89, 59, 59 and 60 in the second session — took his second ranking title in Scotland, having won his first at the Grand Prix in Aberdeen in 2007.

    Higgins played flawless snooker early on but had no answer to Fu’s fightback.

    “The way John started the match I thought it was going to be 9-1 or 9-2,” said the disbelieving world number 14.

    “In a short spell I think I kind of dragged John down to my standard a little bit, and those three frames from 4-1 to get to 4-4 were very crucial. I was feeling over the moon after the first session, and tonight I played much better match snooker.

    “In the first part of the season, I was really struggling but I somehow found some form at the U.K. Championship. It is probably the best win of my career,” Fu said.(SD-Agencies)