‘Class of 92’ shine on thrilling day at the Crucible

As snooker’s legendary “Class of 92” stars were once more enthralled at the World Championship, Ronnie O’Sullivan was in command and John Higgins won a final-frame decider to advance to a stunning quarter-final with Mark Williams.

O’Sullivan and Higgins, both 50 years old, and Williams, both 49, have won 14 world titles together, and they each maintained their complacency on a super Saturday at the Crucible.

Williams defeated Iranian qualifier Hossein Vafaei 13-10 to reach the oldest quarter-finalist in 15 years, beating 52-year-old Steve Davis in the final eight in 2010 to become the oldest.

After blowing match-winning chances in the 23rd and 24th frames, the Scot held his nerve in a late-night decider to defeat Xiao Guodong 13-12. Williams stated he wanted Higgins to accompany him in the next phase.

In the first session of their final-16 match, O’Sullivan raced to a 6-2 lead over China’s Pang Junxu, making it a great match for Williams and Higgins.

The Rocket’s quest is to become the first man to do so eight times in the modern era. His match with qualifier Pang, who is 27th in the world, will take place on Sunday at 14:30 BST.

O’Sullivan had a 4-0 lead over Pang after winning the final five frames of his 10-for-10 match against Ali Carter in round one, helped by breaks of 58, 91, 50, and 63.

In frame five, Pang broke for a 119 break, but that was his best run over 50. In the best-of-25-frame match, O’Sullivan moved one step closer to the winning target with a miss in frame eight, but he only had a two frames to go before the frame was even better.

The first quarter-final match will be between Higgins and Williams at 10:00 BST on Tuesday, followed by the second session at 19:00 on the same day, with the third session set for 10:00 BST on Wednesday.

Due to their busy schedule, veteran campaigners will likely play a lot of snooker.

How are we still competing with everyone, Higgins said during the match-up, “It was different maybe 20 or so years ago when we were really big rivals”?

Ronnie is obviously a part of the mix, and “it’s incredible,” they say.

John Higgins, the 1991 world champion, expressed his gratitude to the pair on BBC Two, saying, “If you need a man for the final frame, like Mark Williams, who finished in style today, it’s John Higgins.”

After the second session on Friday, Williams, the three-time world champion, took two of the opening three frames on Saturday and held a 9-7 advantage.

Williams was not let down, and he continued his quest for the winning post by fashioning a stylish 115 to seal his victory, which Qualifier Vafaei made with breaks of 74 and 72 to close the gap to 11-10.

After the morning session, Higgins and Xiao were scheduled to play at 12-11, but only seven of the nine frames could be finished.

Higgins and Xiao were taken off shortly before 14:15 BST because the afternoon session was scheduled to begin at 14:30 BST.

Higgins wasted a wonderful chance to win the tournament by leading 53-33 in the 23rd frame before Xiao kept his tournament hopes alive by missing a black-off-the-spot.

On Saturday night, they resumed their show, and there was more drama.

Higgins won 58-25 in frame 24, but Xiao won the decision-making process by missing a match-ball pink and losing the frame on the black.

However, Higgins broke in the final frame to advance with a score of 75.

After sensationally taking a 7-1 lead over Ding Junhui, the 2023 world champion, Luca Brecel, received a standing ovation from the Crucible crowd.

Belgian Brecel booked a private jet to return to Sheffield on Saturday after his first-round game on Thursday, arriving at 18:35 BST, just 25 minutes before the evening’s play was scheduled to begin.

Ding broke 141 in frame one of a remarkable session before only adding 15 more as Brecel wow the audience with an incredible display of attacking, almost no-miss snooker.

He rattled in the frames of 121, 78, 55, 100, 88, and 89, which means he only needs to win six more frames when Sunday’s play resumes at 14:30 BST.