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Kyren Wilson beats 50-year-old John Higgins to win Masters snooker tournament

LONDON (AP) — Kyren Wilson won the Masters snooker tournament on Sunday, beating John Higgins 10-6 at London’s Alexandra Palace to deny the 50-year-old Scot a third title at the prestigious event.

Higgins, a four-time world champion, was the oldest player to ever reach one of snooker’s three so-called “Triple Crown” events — the Masters, the U.K. Championship and the world championship.

However, Higgins couldn’t produce the level of performance he did in beating world champion Zhao Xintong in the quarterfinals and world No. 1 Judd Trump in the semifinals, and failed to back up his Masters titles in 1999 and 2006.

Wilson was playing in his third Masters final — the Englishman lost to Mark Allen in 2018 and Shaun Murphy last year — and led 5-3 after the afternoon session.

Higgins reduced the gap to 6-5 but Wilson powered to the victory target to finish off what he described as a “dogfight.”

“It was an absolute honor to share the table not with just a legend but an idol of mine,” said Wilson, who was the world champion in 2024.

Higgins said he was “just useless” in the final.

“Take no credit away — Kyren was by far the better player,” Higgins said.

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AP sports: https://apnews.com/sports

NYPD says dozens rescued from human trafficking during World Cup

▶ Watch Video: Inside look at security preparations for World Cup Forty-three people, including seven minors, were rescued from human traffickers during the World Cup matches in the New York City area, according to the New York City Police Department's Special Victims Unit.The rescue operations were carried out between June 11 and July 19 by specialized NYPD detectives who arrested 89 individuals."The surprise was really the outpouring of support behind the mission and the collaboration with all our partners," said Inspector Gary Marcus, commanding officer of the Special Victims Unit.Those rescued, largely the victims of sex trafficking, are now being supported with an array of social services for the victims, including food, housing and counseling.The 87 operations carried out during the World Cup have generated new leads, officials said, and law enforcement agencies are building more cases based on the investigations already underway."We have ongoing investigations now as a result of these operations," an NYPD official told CBS News.Major sporting events are known to law enforcement as hotbeds of human trafficking.Years in advance, the NYPD devoted significant resources to preparing for the World Cup. Eight matches were played at New Jersey's MetLife Stadium, including the final on Sunday."When we talk about the outreach and the prep we do, a large part of that involved visiting the known sex offenders, particularly the known human traffickers, in our registry," Marcus said. "Whether they're on parole or probation for human trafficking, we visited them to make sure they're compliant with the terms of their release, and secondly, to let them know that the NYPD is watching."The matches were held in multiple cities around the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Preparations to secure those games and prepare for crimes like human trafficking were coordinated between local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.Police departments in many locations that hosted World Cup matches have made arrests and rescues connected to human trafficking, including in Georgia, New England and Missouri. Nationally, there were more than 673 arrests on human-trafficking charges made during the World Cup, and 61 adults and 13 minors rescued, according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
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