World Snooker Championship: Quarter-Final Time at the Crucible After Higgins Epic

We’re already down to the final eight at the Crucible in what has been a superb World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.

But it was one last-16 match-up that had everybody talking yesterday.

John Higgins vs Ronnie O’Sullivan was already being billed as a clash of the greats. Eleven world titles between them meant this one was always going to be hotly anticipated.

But it was the Rocket who seized the initiative in the opening session or so, storming to a 9-4 lead and seemingly on his way to yet another Crucible quarter-final. The path to world championship number 8 was starting to open up.

But the Wizard of Wishaw had different ideas.

Higgins took the three final frames of the penultimate session to take him into Monday afternoon still 9-7 down but with a glimmer of hope.

What we saw yesterday afternoon, though, was vintage John Higgins.

A quite remarkable turnaround saw the Scot snare 5 of the session’s 8 frames to take us to a decider at 12-12, before holding his nerve to seal one the most famous wins in Crucible history.

This was the seventh meeting between these two in World Championship history. And, for those of you who like an omen, in five of the last six meetings at this iconic venue, the winner has gone on to lift the title.

And if you like a fairytale, Higgins goes into the quarter-finals as the second-favourite to lift a fifth world title with Matchbook (8.00). Not bad value when considering his heroics against O’Sullivan and his record after beating the Rocket here.

Defending champion Zhao Xintong is comfortably ahead in the betting, though, at 2.62. He faced Shaun Murphy next up.

Next up for Higgins is Australian Neil Robertson - himself a former world champion - but John is a slender favourite at 1.72 (Karamba), with his opponent priced up at 2.12.

Elsewhere in the quarter-finals, Hossein Vafei’s reward for knocking out Judd Trump is a date with Wu Yize, while Mark Allen faces Barry Hawkins.