Robertson beats Higgins to set up Selby semi-final

Neil Robertson claimed a hard-fought 6-4 victory over John Higgins to reach the semi-finals of the Champion of Champions in Leicester.

Australia's Robertson knocked in breaks of 83 and 127, while Scotland's Higgins replied with runs of 91 and 81 as the first four frames were shared.

However, breaks of 115 and 64 handed 43-year-old Robertson a 4-2 lead and he also took the eighth frame, either side of breaks of 86 and 79 from four-time world champion Higgins.

And an excellent long red in the 10th laid the platform for Robertson to seal his win on the black with a well-crafted 63.

His reward for defeating Higgins is a meeting with another four-time Crucible winner, home favourite Mark Selby, in the last four on Saturday.

Robertson had earlier beaten Englishman Tom Ford 4-1, while Higgins came from behind to win 4-3 against Xiao Guodong.

On Friday, world number one Judd Trump takes on reigning world champion Zhao Xintong for the first time since 2022 in a mouth-watering first semi-final.