A gracious Mark Allen salutes the determination of opponent John Higgins following Crucible epic

Unsurprisingly, the contest went all the way, but it appeared like Northern Ireland-born world number three Allen was going to oust it after getting in first in frame 25 and looking pretty.

However, only a few pots away from victory, he crucially missed a red whilst on a break of 62, leaving the door ajar for the potential of a counter from Higgins.

Fabled for his back-to-the-wall clearances under extreme pressure, the four-time world champion began with a do-or-die back double and proceeded to dish up with a 71 and record one of the greatest wins of his long, illustrious career.

Not only did it put Higgins through to the last eight, but also kept his 29-year unbroken streak inside the world’s top 16 rankings intact.

With five ranking titles within the past 18 months, Allen came to this event better equipped than ever before to land the sport’s premier prize.

Heartbroken, he graciously congratulated Higgins on the Crucible floor, and later spoke about the match, his season, and admiration for the Scot in a post-match interview with Eurosport.

Allen said: “As soon as the double went in at the start of the break I sort of knew he was going to clear up; it's what John does.

"But just disappointed I had more than enough chances in the early part of the match to be well clear and only myself to blame, missed too many balls.

“It's been a steady year...I just need to tighten up on a few things but I don't come here to compete with the all-time greats, I come here to win the tournament, so anything less than that's a disappointment.

"So I didn't take my chances and I 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 a bit more because he's one of the very few that can go on and win this and he needs to believe in it.

“There's a very, very small amount of people in this game ever that can take a clearance like that in a deciding frame at the Crucible, so why should he be getting down on himself?

"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'd 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.”

Higgins is now facing Kyren Wilson over the quarter-final stages in Sheffield.

Allen would still claim the world number one spot for the first time in his career if Judd Trump doesn’t reach the final and Ronnie O’Sullivan doesn’t win the title.

If this happens, he would be the first Northern Ireland-born player ever to reach the summit.

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