Murphy to face Higgins after dashing Zhao's Crucible hopes

Shaun Murphy dashed Zhao Xintong's hopes of lifting the Crucible curse with a superb 13-10 win as he moved into the last four of the World Championship.

Zhao, 29, had been aiming to become the only first-time winner to defend his crown since the tournament moved to the Crucible Theatre in 1977.

However, he simply had no answer as the 43-year-old Englishman knocked in a barrage of pots to reach the last four for the sixth time.

He will now face four-time champion John Higgins, who delivered a vintage display to defeat Australia's Neil Robertson 13-10.

Higgins, who turns 51 on 18 May, becomes the oldest semi-finalist since Ray Reardon, who reached the same stage aged 52 in 1985.

His meeting with Murphy, which begins at 13:00 BST on Thursday, will be a repeat of the 2009 final, which the Scot won 18-9.

Since then, Murphy has twice gone on to reach the showpiece match and has openly admitted that it has been his personal mission to replicate his success from 2005, when he claimed his one and only world title to date.

He got under way in style on Wednesday fashioning a 96 break to edge into a 9-8 lead.

While Zhao immediately responded with a 71, Murphy compiled breaks of 80 and 70 as he reeled off the next three frames to put himself on the cusp of victory against a player he lauded as the "best on the planet" earlier in the week.

A composed run of 81 from Asia's first world champion took the contest to a 23rd frame.

But when Murphy picked out a sublime red to the middle from the bottom of the pack, he was able to construct a break of 69, and with Zhao unable to get the snooker he required, the 'Magician' wrapped up a famous triumph.

On commentary, seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry described Murphy, who at one stage trailed 3-0 and lost the impetus on Tuesday evening, when Zhao fought back from 8-6 to 8-8, as delivering a "flawless" performance.

"I think when you are playing great player - which Zhao unquestionably is - it makes it straightforward for you," Murphy told BBC Sport.

"I just knew I had to play properly and knew I had to be somewhere near my best and I think I was.

"I'm so in awe of Zhao Xintong and how he plays the game. When he is in full flow, he is mesmerising to watch. It is one of the best wins of my career."

Zhao, who became the first player to win all three events in the Players Series in the same season and only the third to bank in excess of £1m in a single campaign, added: "Shaun played really well and put me under big pressure. He played perfect snooker and deserves his win.

"All this season I have had big pressure but now it is gone. I trust myself to come back strongly."

Earlier on Wednesday, Mark Allen's bid to become the oldest first-time world champion in the modern era gathered momentum as he reached the semi-finals with a 13-11 victory over Barry Hawkins.

The 40-year-old Northern Irishman is aiming to complete snooker's Triple Crown, having previously triumphed in the UK Championship and Masters.

However, snooker's biggest prize has so far eluded him in 19 previous attempts with his win over Hawkins earning him a place in the last four for only the third time.

Having resumed at 8-8, Allen took the opening two frames of Wednesday morning's session only to be pegged back by the 2013 finalist, who knocked in breaks of 70 and 83 in response.

The players traded frames before Allen constructed his third century of a high-quality affair to move 12-11 ahead.

In a dramatic final frame, Allen took control with a break of 59 and sealed his passage to the single-table stage after the Englishman underhit an attempted snooker on the pink just seconds after fluking a red to give himself the chance to force a decider.

Allen said he felt "relief more than anything".

He added: "I thought the second session was one of the best I have ever been involved in. It was really high-quality snooker.

"My heart sank when he fluked that red - I'm over the moon to get over the line. If you could have seen inner Mark when he didn't reach the pink, he was doing somersaults and then I potted a good yellow.

"I have won everything else. Why can't I win this? I am thinking about it because I come here every year thinking I can win it for the first time."

Should Allen win the world title, he will become the oldest first-time winner in the modern era, eclipsing Stuart Bingham, who became champion in 2015, aged 38 years and 343 days.

Allen will now face Wu Yize in a best-of-33 encounter that begins on Thursday at 19:00 BST.

Wu, who led 10-6 after taking control of his last-eight tie against Hossein Vafaei in the afternoon, enjoyed a run of 75 and produced an exquisite 135 as reached the mid-session interval 12-8 ahead.

And when Iran's Vafaei broke down after a break of 70, Wu - who had never won a match on snooker's grandest stage prior to this year - booked his passage into the semis with a fine 55 clearance.

Having trailed 9-7 against Ronnie O'Sullivan going into the concluding session in the last 16 before coming back to win, Higgins delivered a repeat showing against 2010 winner Robertson.

Breaks of 66 and 77 brought him level at 9-9 and when he again levelled the match at 10-10 in remarkable circumstances - after his opponent went in off the green - it felt like it would be his night.

He enjoyed the better of two tactical frames to head into a 12-10 lead and crafted a break of 53 before booking a 12th semi-final appearance in a nervy 23rd frame.

"Amazing. Happy birthday Mum - it's her birthday tomorrow," Higgins said.

"It's a great achievement getting back to that one table. Being so close last year with Mark [Williams], and just missing out, it was heartbreaking in a way.

"It will be an amazing feeling to step out there in the Crucible with just me and Shaun."