John Higgins was in sparkling form to comfortably beat Ali Carter 9-4 at the Welsh Open final in Newport.

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A brilliant first session from Higgins paved the way for victory as he raced to a 6-2 lead with two centuries and five breaks over 50 as Carter struggled to stay in touch with the world champion.

An improvement in form came from the Englishman in the evening session but the experienced Higgins held firm to seal the win.

The 34-year-old Scot raced to a strong start and showed his intentions early on with an excellent 95 clearance.

Higgins, the master tactician, came out on top of a safety battle at the start of frame two and took the chance he created with a brilliant 101.

The provisional world number one continued his rich vein of form in the next and a 71 made it 3-0 before a fantastic 137 total clearance made it four frames in a row.

It was a harsh opening session for Carter as he did little wrong but Higgins was at his best with a 98 per cent pot success in outscoring the defending champion by 439 points to 33.

Carter returned after the mid-session interval in determined fashion and a great long red led to a run of 38. A second chance soon went begging though and Higgins capitalised with an 81 to go five clear.

The 30-year-old from Essex finally got on the scoreboard with a scrappy sixth frame but was luckless in the next as he suffered another bad contact after putting Higgins in an awkward snooker.

Higgins was in unforgiving mood and he rubbed salt into Carter's wounds with a 59 clearance to regain a five-frame advantage.

Carter, the defending champion, should have taken the final frame of the session in one visit but broke down on 66 with a routine pink. Higgins looked on course to deal Carter a sucker punch with a clearance but an in-off from pink to black ended the session at 6-2.

The world number five got what he needed at the start of the evening session with the first chance to score but missed a black off the spot on 33. Higgins stepped in and punished the error with a 72 to go 7-2 up.

Carter clawed a frame back with the aid of a 60 in frame 10 and took the next in unbelievable fashion: Higgins reached 72 with all blacks but then missed the ninth red and frame-ball in using force to keep a maximum attempt alive. Carter stepped in and held his nerve to take a difficult chance with a magnificent 73 clearance to pinch the frame.

Both players had chances to take the 12th frame but it was Higgins who nicked it on the colours to move within a frame of victory before the mid-session interval.

Carter was cheered on as the players returned from the intermission but it was Higgins who made the most of his chance with a 76 to claim his second Welsh Open victory 10 years after his first.