John Higgins has been told he's fallen victim to a flukey shot that sees him tied at 4-4 in his thrilling World Snooker Championship quarter-final.
The Wizard of Wishaw was 4-1 up against Mark Selby at The Crucible and constructed breaks of 63 and 79 to twice move into a three-frame advantages. But his 39-year-old opponent responded with runs of 70, 82 and 103 to storm back into things and take the last eight tie to 4-4 ahead of play resuming on Wednesday. Former Masters champions Jimmy White spotted a fortunate moment in Selby's play, however.
He told Eurosport that as Selby tried to keep the snooker legend off the table, a mishit shot at a red that went wayward eventually potted another, and that proved key: "John Higgins has come out and gone 3-0 up. Mark Selby's had a small chance in the first frame when he didn't pot the long black but apart from that, he didn't do nothing wrong. He's thinking damage limitation and getting out of here at 5-3, 4-4 would be a miracle with the way John is playing. He hit a fluke otherwise Higgins was back in the game.
"He was 50 in front and 4-1 down and the way John Higgins was playing, he would get back in the frame. So that could be a turnign point in the match and we will have to talk about it when it finishes.
Fellow Scotsman and former pro Alan McManus was also loving the battle at the Crucible, adding: "This is Iron Man vs Mr Granite. These are the two hardest players who have ever walked this planet."
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