Higgins beats O'Sullivan, Trump loses to Vafaei

ByMichael Emons

BBC Sport journalist at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

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 momentum 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.

"I'm just delighted I came to the party in the third session, because the first two sessions, how I was only 9-7 behind, I'll never know," said Higgins.

"It was just about not giving up. At 6-2 behind, I said to the family 'I've got to win the next two sessions'. I wasn't having any negative thoughts.

"Ronnie played amazing in that game, his cue ball control. I've played him for years and I thought he was striking it great."

O'Sullivan added: "I haven't been in any big matches really for two years and these games, it's a different level.

"I was really shocked that I was able to make a game of it to be honest with you.

"If you watch how many important balls I missed to win frames, you know, you can't do that - and that's probably the difference between winning and losing."

Trump had looked in a strong position going into the final session as he held a 9-7 lead, but 31-year-old Vafaei, who came through two qualifying matches and was the only qualifier to win in the first round, fought back well.

He won six of the nine frames in the final session, making breaks of 106 and 91 to come from 12-11 down to win 13-12.

Vafaei, the current world number 32, felt he could go all the way in Sheffield, the city he lives in.

"I'm looking forward to playing anyone - I'm not scared of anyone and all of them know that," said Vafaei, who plays China's Wu Yize next.

"There's no pressure, so why should I be worried? Some of us are different. When you see the line you get hungry or you get tired, it's up to you. I came to live in Sheffield to be beside the Crucible. The Crucible trophy is living in my head rent free.

"It's one of the biggest wins of my career. I'm looking forward to it against Wu and fancy the job - let's see how talented he is. I was not nervous, I enjoyed every moment. I was born for these kinds of situations."

Trump, the 2019 champion, added: "It hurts but I had my chances. When you know you didn't play a good shot it's not like you've been unlucky.

"I'm not angry about it, I just was not good enough."

While Higgins was beating O'Sullivan on table one, there was also drama on table two with four-time champion Mark Selby losing 13-11 against Wu.

The 22-year-old is aiming to become the second Chinese player to win the world title after compatriot Zhao Xintong last year.

Ranked 10th, Wu claimed his first ranking tournament at the International Championship in November, with Selby tipping him as a future world champion.

Wu would become the youngest player to win a World Championship since a 21-year-old Stephen Hendry claimed the first of his seven titles in 1990.

Wu is in the opposite half of the draw to Zhao so a first all-China final is still possible.

"Wu is young, still loving the game and not too many battle scars - good luck to the boy, I really like him," said Selby.

"I think he is a world champion in the making, it could be this year, but if not this year, I do think in his career he'll probably win it at some stage - he is that good.

"When he is on a run, he is hard to stop."

Selby, 42, started the match with century breaks of 123 and 124, but trailed 9-7 going into the final session, with Wu then stretching his advantage to 10-7.

The next two went to Selby, but Wu took both the 20th and 21st frames to move one from victory.

Selby again won two in a row, including a break of 95 in the 22nd frame, but could not complete the comeback as Wu took the 24th frame for victory.

Earlier on, in frame 21, Selby showed his frustration by hitting the cue against the table after missing a red.

"It was just a combination of everything, just missing silly balls and it's difficult when you don't know how the balls will come off the cushion," said Selby.

"I felt I was swimming against the tide and every single nudge went against me. I missed more than too many balls to win that match."

Higgins and O'Sullivan, both 50, 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.