Four-time winner John Higgins produced a sensational recovery from 8-3 and 9-4 down to defeat Ronnie O’Sullivan 13-12, but world number one Judd Trump was eliminated on a thrilling day at the World Championship.
Trump lost 13-12 to Iranian qualifier Hossein Vafaei in their last-16 tie at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield on Monday evening.
Seven-time champion O’Sullivan was seeking an eighth title to set a new outright record in the modern era, and twice held five-frame leads in Sunday’s second session.
But Higgins won the last three frames on Sunday and maintained that form by taking the first three on Monday as O’Sullivan lost six successive frames at the Crucible for only the fifth time.
In a high-quality thriller, played out in front of an enthralled crowd, O’Sullivan won the 20th and 21st frames to regain the lead at 11-10.
In surely the match of the tournament, and one of the best in the 49 years at the iconic venue, Higgins won two frames in a row to move one away at 12-11, but O’Sullivan’s break of 81 forced a decider.
Higgins had the first chance but missed a red into the middle at 16-0 to give O’Sullivan a lifeline, before the Englishman could only score eight points and failed to pot a red.
The Scot then made a break of 49 on his way to sealing a match-winning frame, with both players getting a standing ovation as the tie finished.
The 50-year-olds are two of snooker’s fabled ‘Class of ’92’, along with 51-year-old Mark Williams, with the trio having 14 world titles between them.
Seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry said: “You just can’t play snooker better than this. After this match the tournament has a lot to live up to – it’s just not going to get any better.”
Ken Doherty, who won the title in 1997, added: “What a turnaround from John. He just dug in and played some of the best snooker we’ve seen for years.
“Maybe it was one of the greatest last-16 matches I’ve ever seen. The snooker he was producing was from the gods.”
Higgins, the champion in 1998, 2007, 2009 and 2011, will now play 2010 winner Neil Robertson, who defeated world number 13 Chris Wakelin 13-7.
