John Higgins beat great rival Stephen Hendry for the first time since March 2002 at the British Open on Friday - despite an error-strewn display. Higgins, who won 5-2, could manage a top break of only 30 in the opening three frames, but he took them all.
Hendry fought back, winning the next two frames with runs of 66 and 58, but Higgins stepped up a gear and took the next two with breaks of 85 and 79.
Higgins now faces Shaun Murphy who beat fellow Englishman Barry Hawkins 5-3.
Higgins, without a world ranking event title for three years, admitted his performance was far from perfect - but he was more than happy with the result.
"To beat Stephen any time anywhere has got to be good for your confidence," said the former world champion, who has slipped to 10th in the provisional rankings after by far the worst slump of his career.
"Obviously I'm not happy with my standard out there but I'm delighted to get through.
"Whether you play well or badly you've got to take positives out of beating Stephen."
But even though Higgins is now only two wins away from breaking his trophy famine, there are still two major snags.
 |  It was really bad. I heard a few people saying it was fixed |
World number one Ronnie O'Sullivan is lurking in the other half of the draw, and Higgins may well have to withdraw from either the semi-final or final because his wife Denise is expecting their second child any time.
By leaving early, Higgins would throw the tournament into obvious chaos.
But he says he is willing to turn his back on a possible �30,000 pay-day and risk a potential fine from the game's governing body by rushing to his wife's side for the birth.
"There'll be plenty more tournaments but not plenty more babies," he said.
"I'll have to ring her to make sure she's all right and I just hope she hangs on to Monday," he said.
Reflecting on his display, Hendry moaned: "It was really bad. I heard a few people saying it was fixed.
"We were both really struggling."
MMIX
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