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‘What a contest!’ – Williams advances to semi-finals
Mark Williams prevailed in a dramatic Crucible encounter, narrowly edging out John Higgins 13-12 on the final black to secure his place in the World Championship semi-finals for a remarkable eighth time.
Resuming at 8-8, Higgins was left to lament key missed chances early on Wednesday as Williams claimed all four opening frames, registering three half-century breaks in succession.
The 50-year-old Welshman, who at one stage trailed 5-1, took the 20th frame before four-time champion Higgins mounted a spirited recovery from 12-8 down.
Higgins, 49, found his stride late in the match, producing breaks of 94, 114 and 67 to force a thrilling decider.
Both men had chances in a nail-biting final frame, but after Higgins missed the blue, Williams held his nerve to become the oldest semi-finalist since 52-year-old Ray Reardon in 1985.
“An extraordinary match and a remarkable conclusion. The blue I played ranks among my finest shots for many years,” Williams said in an interview with BBC Sport.
“What a blue… tremendous nerve. It was a challenging shot. There were so many ways it could have gone wrong, but I was fully committed.”
“Surprisingly, there were no nerves at all—something I have seldom experienced in my career.”
Having defeated Higgins, Williams now sets up a repeat of the 2022 semi-final against world number one Judd Trump.
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This marks the eighth time Mark Williams has advanced to the World Championship semi-finals.
Despite world number six Williams holding a dominant record over Higgins at the Crucible—winning five of their six encounters—this was the first time Higgins lost a deciding frame here since 1996.
Early on, the match seemed unlikely to match the drama of their 2018 final, in which Williams emerged victorious 18-16, given the one-sided nature of the opening frames.
Williams, who credited singing ‘Delilah’ by Tom Jones as pre-match inspiration, saw Higgins return stronger after the interval, finally displaying the form that secured him recent World Open and Tour Championship titles.
“I struggled in the opening four frames, but after the break, I had nothing to lose and perhaps played my best four frames of the tournament,” Higgins reflected.
“I had my chance. If I make the brown and just nudge through, maybe the blue is straightforward, but the pressure was immense.”
“The atmosphere was incredible. I’m devastated right now, but that’s why we love competing at this level.”
Zhao Xintong also booked a semi-final berth with a commanding 13-5 victory over Chris Wakelin.
Zhao, reaching the single-table stage for the first time, will now face seven-time champion Ronnie O’Sullivan, who defeated his compatriot Si Jiahui 13-9 on Wednesday evening.
The 28-year-old, competing as an amateur this season, won six consecutive frames on Tuesday to establish a 12-4 lead, ultimately completing the victory with ease.
A former UK Championship winner, Zhao has now claimed victory in 45 of 47 matches since returning from a 20-month suspension, having been one of ten Chinese players sanctioned for involvement in a match-fixing scandal.
Though not directly involved in match manipulation, Zhao admitted to assisting another player in fixing two matches and placing bets on snooker matches.
Consequently, Zhao lost his place on the World Snooker Tour, but he has now secured his professional tour card for the upcoming season.
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