McManus rolls back the years

John higgins suffered a stunning shock defeat to fellow Scot alan McManus here in Sheffield last night.

the four-time world champion was a red-hot favourite to win their quarter-final at the Betfred World Championship.

But veteran qualifier McManus, 45, reached his first semi-final on snooker’s biggest stage for 23 years with a sensational 13-11 victory.

and it is the world no 29 who will take on China’s Ding Junhui, another qualifier, over the best- of-33 frames on the single table set-up.

With so many big names going out, including Ronnie o’Sullivan, neil Robertson and Judd trump, higgins had sensed the chance of a fifth crown.

But practice partner McManus (above), enjoying an Indian summer to his career, showed true grit to stay with his rival — and held his nerve at the death.

earlier in the day, world no 1 Mark Selby secured his place in the semi-finals with a 13-8 victory over qualifier Kyren Wilson, who still recorded the tournament’s highest break of 143. Selby, the 2014 champion, had resumed the morning session with a commanding 10-6 overnight lead.

he looked on course for a swift conclusion after clearances of 92 and 78 left him on the brink of the last four.

however, Wilson, who had defeated Joe Perry and Mark allen en route to the quarterfinals, recovered to reduce the deficit before taking the final frame ahead of the mid- session interval with a superb century break which bettered the 141 of Barry hawkins in round one. It was, though, only a matter of time before Leicestershire potter Selby sealed victory, which he delivered at the first opportunity following the restart with a 64 clearance. Meanwhile, Marco Fu survived a thrilling fightback from hawkins to reach the last four for the first time since 2006.

hawkins, who knocked out o’Sullivan in the second round, trailed 9-1 yesterday morning before battling back to being just 10-9 down.

however, hong Kong’s Fu rallied to triumph 13-11 and set up a semi-final with Selby.