John Higgins has been lapping up the musical theatre on offer in London during his trip down the Masters, as he becomes the oldest semi-finalist at the event since 1983.
The 50-year-old was superb in beating Barry Hawkins 6-2 in his opening game before coming through an epic with world champion Zhao Xintong in the quarter-finals on Thursday afternoon.
It was a fantastic scrap between the veteran and the current Crucible king, which looked to be going Zhao’s way when he took a 5-3 lead.
The Scot was struggling at that point but regrouped, took advantage of some remarkable strokes of luck, and capitalised on an aggressive shot choice on the final red which Zhao missed in the decider.
Higgins admitted that fortune was on his side late in the game, especially with a wild fluke in the 10th frame, saying: ‘I was so lucky in the second to last frame. I tried a plant, butchered it and fluked it.’
He added on the BBC: ‘When I went 5-3 down, it was criminal the luck that I got.’
The Wizard of Wishaw obviously played some very good stuff as well as getting a bit lucky at times and he credits a relaxed approach to the tournament this year.
Asked about how he is still going so strong at 50, he told TNT Sports: ‘I just think now I’m just enjoying it. Just enjoying coming to play.
‘Even yesterday me and [wife] Denise went to see that Just For One Day, the Live Aid one. I never even picked my cue up yesterday which I would never have done in the past.
‘But I just thought I’m enjoying it, come down, have a day away from it and come over and get ready to play today, have a wee hour before playing.
‘Then hopefully we’ll go see Abba Voyage maybe tomorrow night, we’ll try and get tickets for that.’
Higgins, a big musical fan, is going to see more singing and dancing this week than snooker balls, having also been to see The Devil Wears Prada before his first round win over the Hawk.
‘Normally you come down here and you get yourself in the dressing room and you try and get yourself up for the match and it can go the opposite way. So I just felt, come down and enjoy it,’ he said on Tuesday.
‘We went and saw The Devil Wears Prada last night, me Denise and [son] Oliver. I was nearly falling asleep.’
Zhao was looking to complete the Triple Crown, having won the World and UK Championships, which Higgins fully expects him to do at some stage.
‘He’s going to be here for another 20 years winning these big events, so he maybe felt sorry for the old man,’ he said of the 28-year-old.
Zhao said of the contest: ‘John Higgins played really well today, played some amazing shots.
‘The last two frames he got some luck and came back. The final frame I got a chance and missed the last red. Snooker is always like that so no problem.’
Higgins will now face the winner of Judd Trump vs Mark Allen, which is the second quarter-final on Thursday evening.
On Friday, the afternoon session sees the all Chinese clash between Wu Yize and Xiao Guodong, then Neil Robertson vs Kyren Wilson completes the quarter-finals.
