John Higgins is looking forward to renewing his long rivalry with Mark Williams in the quarter-finals of the 2025 World Snooker Championship.
The Scot dug deep to edge Xiao Guodong 13-12 in a titanic second-round tussle that was delayed because their third session overran.
Four-time champion Higgins managed to hold himself together to compile a break of 75 at the end, taking him through to the last eight for the fourth year on the trot.
“I’m delighted, I’m really happy. It’s brilliant,” John Higgins, who last won the world title in 2011, told the World Snooker Tour.
“Xiao is such a tough player. The two of us were matching each other punch for punch all the way through.”
“There was good stuff, and then there were long frames. But there was also good safety and tactical play – I thoroughly enjoyed the game.
“It was a great game to be a part of, and I’m just delighted to come out of it on the winning side.
“The crowd gets so involved in the frames that it just makes it more nerve wracking, because the crowd are on top of you. What a place to play.”
The victory extends what has been a terrific run of form for Higgins – the winner of the recent Wuhan Open in Yushan and the prestigious Tour Championship in Manchester.
Standing in his way of a semi-final berth at the Crucible Theatre is a familiar foe in Williams, who overcame Hossein Vafaei 13-10 in the last 16 earlier on day eight.
John Higgins and Mark Williams first played each other at a World Championship in 1999 and have enjoyed dozens of high-profile showdowns against one another.
They first clashed at the 1994 Thailand Open, with both defying age to continue featuring at the latter stages of events three decades later.
“I’d love that [to win a third ranking title in as many months], but I’ve got a certain Mr. Mark Williams in front of me, which I can’t wait for,” the Wizard of Wishaw continued.
“It’ll be a brilliant occasion. I’ve said before that 20-25 years ago, we were big rivals in this sport.
“Although we’re still rivals, but it’s more of a friendly rivalry now. You walk into the practice room and he’s still there and I’m still there.
“You think, ‘we’re still competing with the best players,’ which is a great testament to the likes of me and Mark, and obviously Ronnie is still there as well.
“I’m sure that if we’re in the practice room together, we’ll have a laugh [about playing each other again]. I’m sure he’s delighted that he’s still in the quarter-finals.
“He has just turned 50, and I’ll be 50 next month. So listen, we’ve got to savour these matches. We’ve got to savour these occasions.
“Because it won’t be long until we’re not playing here, so you’ve just got to savour it.”
In his post-match press conference, Williams had already expressed his wish that Higgins come through his test with Xiao.
“I am praying that John will win tonight,” Mark Williams said. “It would be an incredible occasion, given the stage we are at in our careers.”
“The reception would probably be like the Masters when we played in 2022 and we had a standing ovation.
“I would just love to play in that atmosphere again. Come on the old boys.
“The last few times I have come here, I am just trying to enjoy the moments because I don’t know how many times I will be back.
“I don’t know how I am still playing to a fairly decent level.”
The third member of snooker’s Class of ’92 triumvirate is also looking good to seal a return to the quarter-finals of a World Snooker Championship.
Ronnie O’Sullivan established a healthy 6-2 cushion over Pang Junxu at the conclusion of their first session on Saturday.
Elsewhere, Luca Brecel produced an incredible standard to orchestrate a 7-1 lead against Ding Junhui, while Si Jiahui got off to a 5-3 start against Ben Woollaston.
Zhao Xintong, meanwhile, moved to within three frames of a last-eight spot for the first time in his career, with the former UK champion 10-6 up on Lei Peifan.
On Sunday, the tie of the round between world number one Judd Trump and Masters champion Shaun Murphy gets under way.
For the full 2025 World Snooker Championship draw, results, and schedule, click here.
Featured photo credit: WST
The ‘old guard’, Napoleonic legends and snooker legends. Remarkable resurgence from Higgins this year and Williams grafting to wins is incredible. The rocket looks like he’s only finding his long range game away from being the most dangerous player along with Luca Brecel! Two players who seemed unable to win a scratch card, let alone a snooker tournament recently,(very recently for Ronnie, two years of recently for Brecel.) seems to be sharper than anyone. The Trump Vs Murphy match will really show how sharp they are now.
Trump impressed me most in round one.
Higgins into a 19th world quarter-final, matching Hendry in second on the all-time list, three below Ronnie O’Sullivan.