John Higgins moved a step closer to claiming a fifth World Snooker Championship title after edging out Judd Trump at the Crucible. The 42-year-old Scot triumphed 13-12 to book a semi-final clash with Kyren Wilson, who had earlier demolished Mark Allen 13-6.
The other last-four tie will see Barry Hawkins challenge the veteran Welsh potter Mark Williams. Hawkins surprised third seed Ding Junhui 13-5 while Williams saw off Ali Carter 13-8.
Higgins was 5-3 down heading into Wednesday’s action and after a topsy-turvy tussle Trump made it 11-9. However, a 134 helped Higgins take control and he would clinch the deciding frame.
Higgins, who last won the top prize in 2011, told the BBC: “What probably made my win, it was I enjoyed it. It must be heartbreaking for (Trump) but for me to come out winning is a brilliant feeling.
“I don’t know what it is but we seem to play classics all the time. He was the better player in the match and I was hanging on to his coat tails. He must hate the sight of me.”
Wilson, who had lost in the quarter-finals in each of the last two years, said of his conquest of Allen: “I definitely wouldn’t say it was the biggest win of my career, it’s up there. It was always a goal of mine to reach the one-table set-up and I just can’t wait to get out there and experience it.
“You have to sometimes seize on your opponent when you sense a little bit of weakness and I could feel that Mark was maybe struggling a little bit towards the end of last night, so every little mistake that he made I felt like I punished it and played really well.”
In his match, Hawkins swiftly won the two frames he needed against a woefully out-of-sorts Ding, finishing the surprisingly one-sided contest in style with a break of 117.
Hawkins said: “I’m in the semis but there’s still such a long way to go and there’s still some great players in. I’m obviously over the moon to get through and I thought I played pretty well. I felt like he gave up at the end there.”
PA
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