Higgins left ‘sick’ after pivotal moment in semi-final defeat | Other | Sport

John Higgins admitted that he was left feeling sick after his World Snooker Championship semi-final exit. The Scot was edged out by Shaun Murphy during an enthralling showdown at the Crucible with the Englishman taking it 17-15.

Higgins looked to be in a commanding position during the opening sessions as Murphy was punished for slight lapses. However, the 43-year-old powered back with the two players neck-and-neck for a place in the final and battling for the lucrative £500,000 grand prize. Murphy turned on the style on Saturday with three centuries and a 78 to eclipse his rival, who had a two-frame lead going into the business end of the match.

Higgins said: “It’s raw just now, the way it finished, I’m bitterly disappointed with that one shot on the black. Right now I’m obviously sick at the way I finished that final black.

“That’s the overriding emotion I’ve got right now. Once you think of the season and some of the matches I’ve played here, I suppose you’ll be…I don’t know if the word is happy, but you’ll just have to see what happens.

“Very weak, the shot on the black there at the end, I know the pressure is on, but in the final session Shaun was punching and really going for it. I got lost a little bit at the end there. It’s understandable, it’s difficult.

‘I played the black so badly, it’s as if I was trying to steer it in at the end instead of trying to play it positively and stun it in.It’s just what happens with your action, when you get a little bit older, it’s starting to break down at certain times and it broke down badly in that last frame there.”

Murphy was full of praise for his opponent, who exits the tournament with £100,000 banked from his progression to the semi-final. He said: John Higgins, what a player, what a man. The harder it gets out here, the tougher he gets, the better he plays.

“Would you give me a break? What a player, what a competitor, what a man he’s been. If I’m half the player when I’m in my fifties as he is, I’ll be very proud.”

Murphy would have been watching on comfortably Saturday evening as Mark Allen and Wu Yize battled in the other semi-final. Allen had trailed 6-2 after the first session but was in fine form to claw back the deficit to make it a finely poised encounter at 11-11 when play resumed.