Mark Williams produced a scintillating potting display, reviving memories of his three world titles, to battle back to 13-11 down in his world championship semi-final against Judd Trump.
The Welshman trailed 7-1 overnight and 11-5 after their morning session. He then fell 12-5 behind when Trump opened the third session with a superb 120 break.
But with Trump, the 2019 champion, seemingly on course for a third final, Williams made four half-centuries and a sublime 137 break to win five frames on the spin. It means he has a chance of reaching a final against either Ronnie O’Sullivan or John Higgins, fellow members of the “Class of 92”. The three greats of the game have won 13 world titles between them since Higgins’s first in 1998.
Trump was consigned to his seat for long periods as Williams rattled in a series of stunning long pots. Breaks of 57 and 77 brought Williams to within two frames of Trump at 12-10, with the Englishman failing to pot a ball in four of the last five frames.
Trump briefly stemmed the tide with a wonderful break of 113 but Williams won the final frame of the evening to raise the prospect of the 47-year-old completing the largest-ever Crucible semi-final comeback on Saturday.
Earlier in a dramatic day, O’Sullivan had taken command of his semi-final against Higgins in ruthless fashion. O’Sullivan made breaks of 99, 91, 70 and 73 to open up a 10-6 lead, but it was the manner in which he won the last frame of the session on a respotted black which will have hurt Higgins the most.
Higgins looked set to limit the damage – and make his highest break of the match into the bargain – only to miss a black off the spot which would have left his opponent needing a snooker. The six-time champion produced a stunning positional shot to get on the black from the penultimate red and a 43 clearance levelled the scores at 58-58. O’Sullivan’s attempt to double the respotted black left Higgins with a difficult pot into the green pocket which the Scot was unable to convert, the black running down the table to leave O’Sullivan a simple pot into the middle.
Higgins had earlier taken two of the first three frames of the day to lead 6-5, but O’Sullivan kicked off a winning run of five frames in a row with a break of 99, despite having to ask referee Marcel Eckardt to remind spectators in the front few rows to sit still.