John Higgins (right) shakes hands with Mark Allen.
John Higgins cried tears of joy in his dressing room after making what he described as the best clearance of his career to beat Mark Allen 13-12 in a sensational second round match at the Cazoo World Championship.
Legend Higgins has had moments of despair in recent seasons, particularly when struggling to convert winning positions, but on Monday night he rolled back the years to produce a moment he said he would remember forever.
From the jaws of defeat at 62-0 down in the deciding frame against Allen, he doubled a red to a centre pocket to initiate a marvellous 71 clearance, reminiscent of his winning break against Ronnie O’Sullivan in the 2006 Masters final.
The four-time champion raised his arms aloft to an enthralled crowd as the last ball went down, in the first Crucible match to go to the final black since Nigel Bond beat Stephen Hendry in 2006.
Asked where the clearance ranks in his career, Higgins said: “It’s the best. It will live with me forever. After everything that has gone before over the last two years, to stand up under the most intense pressure is a very proud moment for me.
“When I came to the table I knew that the double was my only chance, and when that went in, I knew it was on. I felt calm and I just tried to stay positive and keep pushing the cue through straight. This should do wonders for me because I know I can do it, and this is the hardest place to play.”
Scotland’s Higgins goes through to his 18th quarter-final in Sheffield and will face Kyren Wilson over 25 frames on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Monday’s result was particularly significant for the 48-year-old as defeat would have meant the end of an unbroken sequence of 29 years among the top 16 of the world rankings.
Instead, victory lifts him to 15th in the provisional end of season list.
Chasing his first ranking title since the 2021 Players Championship, Higgins is now the only player in the top half of the draw to have previously lifted the trophy, and will hope to use his experience and surge of confidence when he comes up against Wilson and then potentially David Gilbert or Stephen Maguire in the semi-finals.
Allen remains top of the provisional list but his hopes of becoming world number one for the first time now rely on other results as Judd Trump and Ronnie O’Sullivan can overtake him.
The Northern Irishman was disappointed to miss match-winning chances in the closing stages and will have to wait a year for another opportunity to win the title he covets most.
Leading 9-7 going into Monday’s concluding session, Allen took the opener, then in frame 18, he had a chance to clear from 55-1 down, but missed on 39 he a tricky pot on the last red to a centre pocket, and Higgins punished him for 10-8. Allen led 46-26 in the next when he failed to pot a tough red to a top corner, and an excellent 35 from his opponent drew him within one frame. Soon they were level, as Higgins made 64 in frame 20.
After the interval, Allen regained the lead with a break of 66, and he had a scoring chance in the next but, trailing 33-13, missed a red with the rest to a top corner, letting Higgins in for 51 to make it 11-11. In frame 23, Higgins had first chance but was unlucky to not to land on a red when splitting the pack off the blue. Allen took control and eventually won it with an excellent pot on the last red along a side cushion.
Frame 24 came down to the colours, and after trapping his opponent in a snooker on the green, Allen was just three pots from victory at 41-37 when he wobbled the green in the jaws of a baulk corner.
Higgins cleared for 12-12, but thought his chance was gone when he narrowly missed a long red at the start of the decider. Allen looked composed in a run of 62 until he failed to pot a red to a top corner with the rest, and could only watch from his chair as Higgins created an all-time classic Crucible moment.
Higgins added: “I had a cry for about 20 seconds in my dressing room to let it all out. But then I said to myself that I need to be ready for tomorrow. I’m only in the quarter-finals, there’s a long way to go. I need to get better – I haven’t made a century yet in the tournament (his highest break is just 75). But I am in there fighting and staying positive.”
Allen said: “Credit to John, it was a great clearance. But I didn’t lose it in the last frame, I lost it earlier in the match because I had so many chances to go further ahead. I could have won around 13-7 if I had taken those chances. It’s one that got away.
“As soon as John got the double I knew he was going to clear up. He is one of the very few players who can make a break like that. He should give himself a massive pat on the back for that and he should believe he can go on and win this now.”
