John Higgins produced a superb display as he fought back from 8-5 down to beat Mark Selby 10-8 to move into the semi-finals of the Tour Championship in Manchester.
In an almost identical encounter to last year’s final, also won by the Scot, Higgins took the opening session but was then forced to watch as fellow four-time world champion Selby compiled breaks of 127 and 131 on his way to reeling off five consecutive frames.
However, from there, Higgins, 50, showcased his fighting qualities and remarkable ability to find his best form under pressure.
While Selby was unfortunate with the run of balls at times, Higgins ruthlessly knocked in breaks of 56, 92, 74, 78 and 72 to repeat his success of 12 months ago and set up a semi-final meeting with world champion Zhao Xintong on Saturday (13:00 BST).
“I thought he was beginning to hit the ball superbly so you are thinking maybe it could be the same as last year,” Higgins told 5Action.
“That is all I was hoping. It came true again. He went into the balls and didn’t land on one and you are thinking maybe it is my turn. I was delighted the way I dug in.”
Earlier on Thursday evening, Zhao, who turns 29 on Friday, swept to an impressive 10-4 win over Chris Wakelin.
The Chinese star made breaks of 103, 93 and 120 to lead 5-3 after the opening session and continued in the same vein when play resumed.
A run of 70 put him 6-3 up and while the Englishman replied with a 71 of his own, Zhao took the next four frames with breaks of 134, 108, 50 and 101 to seal his win.
Australia’s Neil Robertson also booked his place in the last four with a 10-8 success over Barry Hawkins.
Robertson, who won the tournament in 2021 and 2022, will now play world number one Judd Trump in a match that will begin at 13:00 BST on Friday.
In a hard-fought encounter, Robertson trailed 7-5 but took five of the last six frames against Hawkins to advance to his fourth ranking semi-final of the campaign.
“Things weren’t going well. At 7-5 I had to regroup, I tried to hang in there,” said Robertson.
“If I am going to have any chance of doing well in the World Championship where not every session goes your way, you need to find a way to get through it.
“It’s a great win because alongside John Higgins and Mark Selby, Barry is one of the hardest players to beat.”