• World Snooker Championship

O'Sullivan falls to Higgins as Trump rolls on

John Higgins reached the semi-finals at the expense of Ronnie O'Sullivan © PA Photos

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John Higgins held his nerve to deny Ronnie O'Sullivan a place in the World Snooker Championship semi-finals with a 13-10 victory in Sheffield.

In a clash worthy of the final, O'Sullivan produced flashes of his brilliant best as he went about building a 8-5 lead when the pair resumed on Wednesday afternoon tied at 4-4.

But Higgins would not be fazed, hitting back in the next frame and - after O'Sullivan miscued on a simple yellow to blow an opportunity to win the session - then clinching the final two frames to draw level.

When the pair returned to the table in the evening, it was Higgins who had the brighter start, taking the lead before O'Sullivan produced a century clearance to level once more. But three-time world champion Higgins kept his cool, and after clinching a pivotal 19th frame, he reeled off another two frames to move within in one frame of victory.

O'Sullivan fought valiantly, and when he pulled a frame back an unlikely comeback appeared to be on the cards, but it was swiftly put to bed by Higgins, who clinched the next frame to secure his place in the semi-finals.

Awaiting him in the last four is Mark Williams, who was the first player to book his place in the semi-finals after finishing off Mark Allen on Wednesday morning. Williams, champion at the Crucible in both 2000 and 2003, needed just two frames to win the contest upon its resumption for a third session, and he secured them without error to finalise a comfortable 13-5 triumph.

Allen was the master of his own accelerated downfall, leaving a red perched over the pocket for Williams to start a frame-winning break of 61 in the day's opener, before missing a sitter while 39-17 ahead in the next - leaving the door wide open for his Welsh opponent to end the contest with a closing 65.

Judd Trump continued his impressive run to book his place in the other semi-final, the in-form youngster also wasting no time in winning the two frames he needed against Graeme Dott to move into the next round, eventually matching Williams' 13-5 scoreline.

"It was a bit easier than I thought it would be," said Trump afterwards. "He didn't play badly but I didn't give him a chance to get into the match. I felt if he got in front then it would be a really tough game so I had to play well early on and put the pressure on him.

"I feel invincible now and that's a good feeling to have but at any stage anyone left could beat me 13-3 or 13-4 as the standard is so good. But I could also do the same to the rest of the players. I'm keeping focused and not getting carried away but I'm getting closer."

Trump will face Ding Junhui after he held off a brave fightback from Mark Selby to reach the semi-finals for the first time with a 13-10 win.

Ding had led for much of the match, but Selby looked dangerous as he clawed his way back to 10-10 after trailing 10-6 when the pair resumed on Wednesday evening. However, Ding, whose mental toughness has often been questioned, won three frames on the trot to hold on for the victory.

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