Inspired Higgins earns final spot

John Higgins shattered fellow Scot Stephen Maguire’s hopes of a first 888.com World Championship final appearance as he produced a stunning comeback to triumph 17-15 in Sheffield.

Maguire entered the final session leading 14-10 and needing to win only three of the remaining nine frames to triumph after dominating the third session yesterday evening.

But Higgins, the 1998 champion refused to buckle in a revival similar to the one shown by Shaun Murphy in defeating Matthew Stevens 13-12 in the quarter-finals after trailing 12-7.

Maguire failed to attain his previous heights in the tournament as he started to show the first signs of nerves while Higgins was close to the top of his game in clinching a place in his third world final.

Higgins won seven of the eight frames and also achieved the distinction of registering the 1,000th century at the Crucible in frame 29.

Maguire will be devastated by the outcome but at least can take consolation from producing some of his best snooker in the past fortnight since bursting on the snooker scene.

A missed pink into the middle bag by Maguire gave Higgins the chance in the first frame and a 47 clearance proved decisive and then The Wizard of Wishaw had the chance of a maximum break and a £157,000 jackpot in the next.

He potted 13 reds and 12 blacks but running out of position on the 13th black proved his downfall and he had to settle for a century.

Runs of 36 and 39 in frame 27 further cut Higgins’ deficit before a 42 in the next helped Maguire to keep two frames ahead at the interval.

The 1,000th Crucible ton arrived in frame 29 to keep the pressure on Maguire and in frame 30 he missed a cut on the final pink into the middle pocket to allow Higgins to edge home and level at 15-15.

He won his sixth frame out of seven in the session to move ahead for the first time since frame 13 with breaks of 30 and 34.

The 32nd frame was littered with unforced errors from both players and lasted more than half an hour before Higgins managed to close out the match.

Qualifier Mark Selby and Murphy will conclude their semi-final which is evenly poised at 12-12 ahead of the final session. Selby led 11-9 at the interval before Murphy claimed three of the final four frames.

Selby is bidding to become only the third qualifier to reach the final after Terry Griffiths in 1979 and Murphy himself two years ago.

Selby has shown no signs of being overawed or of being fatigued at the end of the fortnight. He demonstrated that in the first frame of the session when winning a marathon affair spanning 52 minutes and 27 seconds.

The Leicester potter showed the other side to his game in frame 18 when he made a 112 break before sharing the next two.

After the interval Murphy, who came from 12-7 down to beat Matthew Stevens in the quarter-finals, stepped up a gear with a 76 break in frame 21 and a 62 in the next to draw level.

Selby refused to buckle and his second century of the session – a 129 total clearance – was his ninth of the tournament – two more than his nearest challenger Stephen Maguire.

Murphy’s opening 31 in a 35 minute final frame ensured parity for the Rotherham based player.