John Higgins returns with victory

John Higgins celebrated a successful return to professional snooker, easing to victory in the final of his comeback tournament in Germany.

The Scot, playing in his first event since his recent six-month ban came to an end, beat Shaun Murphy 4-2 in the final of the Euro Players Tour Championship in Hamm.

The victory sees Higgins earn 2000 rankings points and moves him up one place to third in the world.

"I just came here hoping to get a few matches under my belt, so I'm delighted to win it," said Higgins.

"I had to be realistic coming here as the other players had all been competing regularly for four or five months.

"I knew I was good enough to win it but I didn't expect that much."

Higgins set the tone for the final with an opening break of 132 before he moved two frames clear on the back of a 66.

Murphy responded with breaks of 64 and 50 to pull level, but Higgins recovered with efforts of 95 and 53 sufficient to get him across the line.