John Higgins moved a step closer to snooker history as he battled his way past Neil Robertson in the World Championship quarter-finals, leaving himself one victory away from becoming the oldest ever world finalist.
The 50-year-old will be the oldest semi-finalist since 52-year-old Ray Reardon in 1985 when he faces Shaun Murphy in the last four, beginning on Thursday afternoon, and a fifth world title is becoming a genuine possibility for the Scot.
Higgins trailed 2010 champion Robertson 9-7 heading into the final session but quickly eradicated that deficit with breaks of 66 and 77 before responding to the Australian’s run of 73 with two more frames to lead for the first time at 11-10.
The frames were generally long and arduous but a trademark Higgins counter-clearance saw him snatch frame 22 by a point to move within one of victory before finally getting over the line in the next, just after 11pm, to triumph 13-10. It was a remarkable triumph and the tired-looking, but smiling, Scot gave a relieved wave to the crowd as he trudged off the arena floor.
Higgins will square off with a much fresher Murphy in the semi-finals, after the 2005 champion produced a brilliant session of snooker to end the run of defending champion Zhao Xintong, who became the 21st man to fail to break the Crucible Curse, of no first-time winner successfully defending their title.
Murphy and Zhao were locked at 8-8 heading into the final session, only for the Englishman to pull away in style, making breaks of 96, 80, 70 and 69 to secure a 13-10 triumph.
“I knew going into it nothing but my best would do,” Murphy explained after booking a first semi-final appearance since 2021. “Thankfully, I found it in the third session, and I'm delighted. It's one of the best wins of my career.”
Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen became the first man into the semi-finals in the morning session when he seized on an “unforgivable” blunder by Barry Hawkins to triumph 13-11.
Hawkins looked set to force a decider when he fluked a red and just needed to roll up behind the pink to leave his opponent in huge trouble, only to come up short and allow Allen to clear up for victory.
“It’s unforgivable not reaching it,” admitted Hawkins. “I was worried about over-hitting it, believe it or not. I didn’t want to twitch, throw a quick one in and push the white past. But I just didn’t go through the ball. I was just thinking, that’s it, game over. I was gutted, obviously. What a way to lose. It’s a horrible feeling, knowing that you played an absolutely terrible shot. It’s just gutting, a sinking feel, after such a long match and playing well for the most part.”
Allen will face Wu Yize in the last four, with both men bidding to reach their first world final, after the young Chinese talent did most of his damage in the afternoon session, building a 10-6 lead over Iran’s Hossein Vafaei and wrapping up a 13-8 win later in the day.
