Sporting Life
A rare moment of emotion from the victorious Mark Williams
A rare moment of emotion from the victorious Mark Williams

Mark Williams beats John Higgins in dramatic deciding frame at the World Championship

By Richard Mann
Snooker
Thu May 01, 2025 · 3w ago

Mark Williams withstood one of the most incredible comebacks in Crucible history from John Higgins, before eventually winning an epic battle 13-12.

Resuming their quarter-final locked together at 8-8, Williams quickly made his move and appeared to have put the match to bed by winning the first four frames of the morning to put himself within touching distance of a place in the last four.

However, Higgins had other ideas and following the mid-session interval, the four-time world champion cut a completely different figure, dominating the first frame after the break to breathe new life into the match.

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And from nowhere, Higgins found the type of snooker that saw him win the Tour Championship only a matter of weeks ago, slamming in a run of 94 and following up with a fabulous 114 to reduce his arrears to 13-12.

Williams remained calm in his chair, but Higgins was now on the charge and didn’t give his opponent a sniff as he dominated frame 24, a break of 67 eventually taking the match to the deciding frame many had predicted before this much-anticipated clash.

As the players again warmly shook hands, they were once more greeted by a standing ovation from the packed Crucible crowd who were not left disappointed by what was to come.

Williams, this time, was in first, a trademark long red getting him up and running, only to run out of position soon after.

And then came Higgins’s turn, another golden chance again cut short by an errant cue ball.

A short safety exchange ensued, before Williams was afforded another chance, this time a failed cannon onto a red stationed on the side cushion forcing him to retreat to the long grass.

More safety followed, before Higgins potted brilliantly with the rest on the final red. The black was comfortably negotiated, leaving the brown and blue as the final obstacles, situated close together on the top cushion.

The brown was sunk, but Higgins choose to stun the blue, which was now all he needed to win the match, with an element of safety in the hope the blue would run clear of the pocket if not potted.

A rattle of jaws and the blue stayed out, running midway across the table and leaving Williams with an incredibly thin cut and an even harder positional shot to land on the pink.

But amid gasps from the crowds, and a disconsolate look from Higgins, the blue was gone, the white rebounding off two cushions across the table to land inch-perfect on the pink.

Agony for John Higgins

No more drama, just a rare outpouring of emotion from Williams after potting the final black as the Crucible crowd rose once more.

More warm handshakes between the players, the curtain finally brought down on a Crucible epic played out between two of its greatest gladiators.

O'Sullivan and Trump battle through

Not one to usually play second fiddle, Ronnie O'Sullivan cruised into the semi-finals with a 13-9 win over Si Jiahui.

Once again, it wasn't vintage O'Sullivan, but he still had more than enough in the tank to keep Si Jiahui at arms length throughout.

O'Sullivan led 10-6 going into the evening session, and though Si started quickly by taking the first two frames of the night, it wasn't enough.

O'Sullivan settled any nerves he might have been feeling with a typically silky run of 82 and from there, there was only ever going to be one winner.

O'Sullivan will face Zhao Xintong in the last four, the Chinese having completed a 13-5 victory over Chris Wakelin.

Making up the last-four quartet is Judd Trump, who just had too many guns for Luca Brecel and eventually ran out a 13-8 winner.

Brecel came out all guns blazing in the afternoon session and won the first four frames with a blitz of big breaks, turning his 5-3 deficit into a 7-5 lead.

However, Trump was able to hang tough, getting out of the session all square and returning in the evening to finish the job.

Back-to-centuries got the ball rolling and in the end, Trump wasn't hard pressed to win all five frames played, running out an ultimately convincing winner.

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