Murphy into World Snooker Championship final after edging Higgins

London: Shaun Murphy defeated four-time champion John Higgins in a dramatic World Championship semi-final on Saturday to leave the Englishman just one match away from adding a second global snooker title to the one he won 21 years ago.

The Englishman will now face the winner of the second semi-final between China's Wu Yize and Northern Ireland's Mark Allen, who are locked at 11-11 in a match that will be played to a finish later Saturday.

"I came out today knowing if I got my chances I could score," Murphy told the BBC following a tense victory at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre in northern England that saw him into his fifth world final.

He added: "But John Higgins... What a player and what a man. The harder it gets on the table the tougher he gets. He's such a competitor. If I'm half the player when I'm in my fifties as he is, I'll be very proud."

Higgins, 51 later this month, said: "My shot on the black on the frame at the end there was very weak."

Nevertheless, he paid tribute to Murphy by saying: "But the way Shaun hit the ball in that last session -- you cannot hit it better than that. It was incredible, it really was"