John Higgins suffered heartbreaking defeat in the Northern Ireland Open final last night to home favourite Mark Allen.The Wizard of Wishaw was 8-6 ahead but Allen produced a fine comeback to win three frames on the bounce, and claim the Alex Higgins Trophy with an emotional 9-8 victory.Higgins was on the table at 8-7 when he missed a black that would have all but sealed the title.In a scrappy deciding frame, both players missed opportunities but when Higgins missed a tricky red holding a narrow 31-27 lead, Allen made no mistake to clinch the crown in Belfast with a break of 38.Higgins pulled off great wins over Mark Williams and Yan Bingtao to reach the final, but couldn't add to the ranking title he won in March - his first for three years
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