Mark Allen encouraged John Higgins to “believe in himself” after the Scot’s thrilling victory set up a World Championship quarter-final clash with Kyren Wilson at the Crucible.
The Wizard of Wishaw snatched a remarkable 13-12 win on the final black over Northern Ireland’s Allen in Monday’s evening session.
Higgins produced an incredible final few minutes, coming from 62 behind to snatch a memorable triumph, but Allen was classy in defeat.
“I just need to tighten up on a few things, but I don’t come here to compete with the all-time greats,” Allen said after the loss.
“I come here to win the tournament, so anything less than that’s a disappointment. So I didn’t take my chances and got what I deserved in the end.
“So good luck to John for the rest of it. I hope he does well. I said to him at the end, I hope he believes in himself.”
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Rare emotion from Higgins as he gets over the line in classic with Allen
World No. 13 Higgins has been brutally honest about his doubts about winning a fifth World Championship, having lost a number of important and tight games in recent years.
But Allen told his conqueror to be optmistic about his chances.
“There’s a very, very small amount of people in this game ever, that can take a clearance like that in the deciding frame at the Crucible,” Allen added.
“So why should be getting down on himself? You know, he’s still one of the very, very best in the world and I love to see him do well.
“Not against me obviously, but I love to see John do well because he’s one of the good guys and he wears his heart on his sleeve.
“He’s got great determination and I love to see him do well.”
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‘Beyond belief’ – McManus and White react to ‘mindboggling’ Higgins win over Allen
Allen never trailed Higgins and led 12-11 with just one frame required. But at 12-12, the 48-year-old produced an incredible double in the final frame to take the match, as the Wizard of Wishaw held his arms aloft to the Sheffield crowd.
“As soon as the double went in at the start of the break, I sort of knew he was gonna clear up. It’s what John does,” Allen said.
“But just disappointed. I had more than enough chances in the early part of the match to be well clear and have only myself to blame, missed too many balls.”