Higgins nerveless in last-frame drama
L Scot battles to beat Trump and reach semi-final against Wilson
Judd Trump must be sick of the sight of John Higgins.
Higgins beat a 21-year-old Trump for the last of his four world titles in 2011 and now a battling quarter-final victory at the 2018 Betfred World Snooker Championship has denied the Englishman probably his best shot at a world crown since.
Seven years ago in the Crucible showpiece, Wishaw’s Higgins fought back from 10-7 down to triumph 18-15 and he demonstrated similar resilience to repeatedly come from behind in last night’s last-eight clash before clinching a decider to prevail 13-12.
The 42-year-old Scot trailed 7-3, 10-8 and 11-9 before knuckling down and winning four of the final five frames to reach a ninth World Championship semi-final – where 26-year-old Masters runner-up Kyren Wilson awaits.
Higgins’ victory included breaks of 43 and 41 to seal the decider and he showed all the fighting spirit that has epitomised a 26-year professional career. A fifth world title is now a distinct possibility for the seemingly ageless Scot, who is now the bookies’ favourite, with just two more victories in the one-table set-up at the Crucible required.
Earlier Barry Hawkins and Wilson booked their places in the last four with ruthless demolitions of their quarterfinal opponents. Hawkins thrashed third seed Ding Junhui 13-5 to set up a semi-final showdown with Mark Williams who beat Ali Carter 13-8.
Wilson will face Higgins after beating Mark Allen 13-6.
Both men took an 11-5 lead into the final session at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield and Hawkins swiftly won the two frames he needed against a woefully out-of-sorts Ding, finishing the surprisingly onesided contest in style with a break of 117.
And although Allen kept his hopes alive with breaks of 54 and 40 in the opening frame, Wilson took the next two to gain a measure of revenge for losing to the Northern Irishman in the final of The Masters in January. Hawkins, who has reached the semifinals or better in five of the last six years, told the BBC: “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 not getting too excited, I’ve been here before and I know what it’s like to go out there and play terrible, so it can happen at any time. 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.
“I thought I punished him every time he made a mistake and when someone’s doing that against you, it’s easy to start missing a few and I managed to keep him under a bit of pressure because he hadn’t been until then. There’s a lot on his shoulders as well.”
Wilson, who had lost in the quarter-finals in each of the last two years, told the BBC: “I definitely wouldn’t say it was the biggest win of my career, [but] 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. l Watch the snooker World Championship live on Eurosportandeurosportplayer with Colin Murray and analysis from Ronnie O’sullivan.