Williams beats Higgins in stunning Crucible black-ball finish

Mark Williams, a three-time champion, fought back to earn a 13-12 victory over John Higgins in the World Championship’s semi-finals.

As winner Williams rallied from each of the first four frames with three half-centuries before the game resumed at 8-8 on Wednesday, Higgins was initially left to rue costly misses in each of the subsequent frames.

Williams, 50, who was 5-1 up at the 20th frame as Higgins, a four-time champion, delivered a stirring response from 12-8 down, was largely confined to his chair after that.

The 49-year-old, who appeared to be struggling, found his rhythm and recorded breaks of 94, 114, and 67 to prepare for a dramatic conclusion.

Both players had chances to win a tight final frame, but when Higgins slammed the corner of the blue, the Welshman made it 2-0 before 52-year-old Ray Reardon in 1985.

“Unbelievable game, unbelievable finish. One of my best shots for many years probably was the blue I played, Williams said to BBC Sport.

What are those blue steel balls. A difficult shot was made. I had the option to leave. It could have been cut too far. I simply pursued it full-blooded.

There were no nerves at all, perhaps just a few times throughout my entire career.

Williams, the reigning world number six, has generally prevailed over his fellow “Class of 92” rival in Sheffield, winning five of their six meetings, but it was Higgins’ first defeat in a decider since 1996.

After the first four frames of the morning, it appeared unlikely that it would live up to the thriller they provided in the 2018 final, which the Welshman ultimately won 18-16.

Higgins appeared out of tune and out of rhythm until the mid-session interval, which was similar to Williams’ claim that he had inspired him to perform “Delilah” by Tom Jones before arriving. He only showed signs of resemblance to the player who recently won the World Open and Tour Championship.

The Scot said, “It was poor for the first four frames, but after the break, I had nothing to lose and played perhaps the best four-frame burst of the event.”

I had a chance, I thought. You are under a lot of pressure, but the blue might be impossible if I pot the brown and roll through.

With a 13-13 victory over Chris Wakelin, Zhao Xintong placed third in the group.

His reward for making his debut appearance at the single table will be a meeting with Ronnie O’Sullivan, who defeated his Chinese compatriot Si Jiahui on Wednesday night 13-9.

The 28-year-old amateur won six straight frames on Tuesday to take the lead 12-4, and he did so comfortably.

After being one of the top 10 players from China sanctioned in a match-fixing scandal, Zhao, a former UK Championship champion, has now won 45 of his 47 matches.

He accepted the accusations of being a party to another player who had already fixed two matches and had himself bet on matches without actually playing a match.