World number one Judd Trump defeated three-time champion John Higgins 6-5 in a final-frame decider to book his place in the quarter-finals of the UK Championship at the Barbican in York.
A hard-fought opening to the match with several tactical exchanges left the scores level at 2-2 at the mid-session interval, with the contest becoming more fluent thereafter.
Trump crafted a superb break of 111 and also made two half centuries to lead 5-4, but Higgins, who made breaks of 58 and 106 forced an 11th frame with a composed 66 under pressure.
However, a loose safety shot from the Scot was heavily punished by Trump, who sealed his victory with a wonderful century.
“It is nice to do it when it really matters like in the last frame, it was a great break,” Trump told BBC Sport.
“When the real pressure is on is probably when I produce my best stuff. The game was too slow and I wanted to speed it up and start taking more balls on. It is a big tournament and sometimes you try too hard at the start.”
