<p>Burden, the 33-year old from London, thus lived up to his billing of overwhelming title favourite based on form and ability. However, he was stretched to breakpoint by the 32-year old Brazilian who had won the hearts with a fairytale run through the fortnight-long tournament.<br /><br />Of more significance to Burden, who thus became the first Englishman to win the coveted crown since Luke Simmonds triumphed in 1998, was that he earned an entry into the pro-ticket tour that is a gateway to the lucrative professional circuit.<br />At the start, Burden raced to a 3-0 lead, but the burly Figueiredo came surging back to level at 3-3. Thereafter, the two moved neck and neck. The Englishman, however, had his nose in front at 5-4 when the first session ended.<br /><br />In the second session, it was Figueiredo who took control at the outset by winning two frames on the trot to forge ahead for the first time in the match. <br />He leveled at 5-5 with a brilliant 76 and then cleared the table to take a 6-5 lead. However, Burden, undeterred by the change in the flow of the match, took the next three frames to move to 8-6 with breaks of 62 (12th) and 103 (14th) that gave strong indications of a player getting into the groove.<br /><br />But the Brazilian fought his way back by taking the 15th frame on the back of a 35 break only to see Burden retaliating with a run of 51 in the 16th for a 9-7 lead.<br />Results (final): Men: Alfie Burden (Eng) bt Igor Figueiredo (Bra) 59-31, 82 -50, 59-1, 0-98, 33-66, 65-102, 81-32, 1-89, 97-33, 19-81, 47-56, 94-0, 65-58, 107-28, 39-49, 60-15, 51-67, 82-26.<br />Third place playoff: Yu Delu (Chn) bt Phillip Williams (Eng) 4-0.</p>
<p>Burden, the 33-year old from London, thus lived up to his billing of overwhelming title favourite based on form and ability. However, he was stretched to breakpoint by the 32-year old Brazilian who had won the hearts with a fairytale run through the fortnight-long tournament.<br /><br />Of more significance to Burden, who thus became the first Englishman to win the coveted crown since Luke Simmonds triumphed in 1998, was that he earned an entry into the pro-ticket tour that is a gateway to the lucrative professional circuit.<br />At the start, Burden raced to a 3-0 lead, but the burly Figueiredo came surging back to level at 3-3. Thereafter, the two moved neck and neck. The Englishman, however, had his nose in front at 5-4 when the first session ended.<br /><br />In the second session, it was Figueiredo who took control at the outset by winning two frames on the trot to forge ahead for the first time in the match. <br />He leveled at 5-5 with a brilliant 76 and then cleared the table to take a 6-5 lead. However, Burden, undeterred by the change in the flow of the match, took the next three frames to move to 8-6 with breaks of 62 (12th) and 103 (14th) that gave strong indications of a player getting into the groove.<br /><br />But the Brazilian fought his way back by taking the 15th frame on the back of a 35 break only to see Burden retaliating with a run of 51 in the 16th for a 9-7 lead.<br />Results (final): Men: Alfie Burden (Eng) bt Igor Figueiredo (Bra) 59-31, 82 -50, 59-1, 0-98, 33-66, 65-102, 81-32, 1-89, 97-33, 19-81, 47-56, 94-0, 65-58, 107-28, 39-49, 60-15, 51-67, 82-26.<br />Third place playoff: Yu Delu (Chn) bt Phillip Williams (Eng) 4-0.</p>
