Mark Williams is into the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championship after a thrilling 13-12 victory over his old rival John Higgins at the Crucible.
The 50-year-old reaches the single-table set-up for the eighth time of his career, becoming the oldest semi-finalist since Ray Reardon made the final four at 52 in 1985.
The brilliant contest had significant swings of momentum, with Higgins making the stronger start but Williams then looking like he was going to wrap it up fairly comfortably when he lead 12-8.
The Scot made a fantastic contest of it, though, bursting back into contention late on and producing a thrilling climax by winning four frames on the spin to force a decider.
Williams, rarely fazed by anything, kept his cool and stopped the rot just in time, getting over the line in the 25th and final frame, but only after some serious drama.
Higgins was 52-25 ahead in the decider, but made an error with a safety shot to allow Williams back in and he edged into the lead before laying a snooker. The Scot got back in on the final red and got down to the last blue, needing that for victory but rattled it in the jaws, allowing Williams to step back in and win the frame and match on the final black.
It is just the second time Higgins has been beaten in a deciding frame at the Crucible and the first time since 1996, with his record now 9-2 in World Championship deciding frames.
Higgins looked good early, taking a 5-1 lead in the opening session, but the Welshman claimed the final two frames of the session to stay in touch, though, then managed to end Tuesday evening level at 8-8.
Breaks of 92, 50, 62 and 65 from the Welsh Potting Machine in the second session saw the three-time world champion even the score and set up an intriguing final session on Wednesday morning.
It was a quick turnaround for the two veterans as they were back on at 10am and the match continued the way it had been going on Tuesday night.
There were mistakes from the Wizard of Wishaw as he had chances in all four frames before the mid-session interval but lost them all, with Williams knocking in runs of 73, 53 and 52 along the way.
The Scot was in deep trouble but looked in better rhythm when he returned from the mid-session, reaching 49 on a maximum attempt before missing a tricky black, but getting across the line when given another opportunity.
The Wizard then made his highest break of the match, 94, to keep piling the pressure on Williams, despite the Welshman needing just one frame for victory.
Maybe it was that pressure beginning to tell as Williams made a very careless mistake in the next frame, catching the blue with his left arm while potting a red. Higgins stepped in and made a brilliant break of 114 to take the score to 12-11.
Another half-century from the Scot took the match to a decider with the Crucible crowd giving the two legends a fantastic reception before the break-off.
Williams will go on to face either Judd Trump or Luca Brecel in the semi-finals, with two sessions still to play in that match on Wednesday afternoon and evening.
On the other side of the draw, Ronnie O’Sullivan is scrapping it out with Si Jiahui, while Zhao Xintong has one foot in the semis as he leads Chris Wakelin 12-4 going into their final session.
More to follow…