Masters Snooker: John Higgins beats Ronnie O'Sullivan while Yan Bingtao also progresses

The match was one of the most eagerly anticipated in recent memory, pitting two of the finest players of all time against each other once again, the pair having played out so many epic battles since both turned professional way back in 1992.

For once, the main course lived up to the hype as the pair traded five centuries in a quite astonishing nine frames of snooker that saw both players perform to a level surpassing anything either has produced all season, more so Higgins who barely missed a beat once surging into a 3-1 lead thanks to successive century breaks.

Despite reeling off consecutive centuries himself to level the scores at 3-3, O'Sullivan found Higgins just too strong on the night and the Scot sealed one of the biggest wins he has enjoyed for some time when closing out the match in typically assured fashion.

The opening exchanges proved to be a tasty appetiser for what was to come, O'Sullivan racing out of the blocks with a silky run of 97 before Higgins put together a pair of 41 breaks to let his opponent know he wouldn't be taking a backward step.

Higgins cut a determined figure when walking to the table in frame three, but he needed a couple of brilliant pots with the rest to pave the way for a sublime total clearance of 145 - a new tournament high break set for the third time on Friday alone.

Evidently in the mood, the two-time Masters winner didn't relent and after another brilliant opening red kickstarted a pinpoint run of 110 that extended his lead to 3-1, Higgins strode out of the arena for the mid-session interval with a spring in his step. In the midst of that Higgins barrage, O'Sullivan had only missed a single ball in four frames of snooker.

To his credit, O'Sullivan didn't appear flustered and his own game looked to be in fine working order when he returned from the break to compile a clearance of 125, followed by another century (103) in frame six to level the scores in the blink of an eye and leave Higgins suddenly looking concerned.

If Higgins was to crack, it would be now, but when O'Sullivan's break off in frame seven left a red within potting range to the middle pocket, the veteran Scot made no mistake, working his way around the table like a surgeon on the operating table and clearing again for a fabulous 134.

The expected O'Sullivan comeback - like the one that had stunned Ding Junhui in the first round - clearly had Higgins looking over his shoulder as he tried to keep things tight early in frame eight, but when he got the better of the ensuing safety battle, he again made his opponent pay.

This time it was a run of 88 - the yellow stubbornly failing to drop when century number six beckoned - to put Higgins within a frame of victory, and he didn't give O'Sullivan a sniff thereafter, dictating terms in the ninth and final frame to complete one of the most famous wins in a career already littered with such victories.

Higgins told the BBC: "I enjoyed it. It was a really good high standard. There were only a couple of little mistakes we both made and it could have gone either way.

"I am delighted with the way I played and the way I turned up in a big game against one of the best players."

O’Sullivan, who last won the competition in 2017, admitted he lost to the better man on the night in Milton Keynes.

He said: "I just made too many unforced errors. I know the breaks look pretty good on the scoresheet and if you look at that you’d probably say fantastic.

"But when you miss easy balls, unforced errors and some slack safety shots against someone like John – when he is playing as well as he was – you are not going to win."

Bingtao holds nerve to defy Maguire

Yan Bingtao booked his place in the semi-finals with a hard-fought 6-5 defeat of Stephen Maguire in Milton Keynes.

The 20-year-old Chinese star defied his apparent inexperience with another nerveless display, ensuring the match was played on his terms throughout and producing a wonderful, tournament high break of 141 in the deciding frame.

Maguire failed to settle initially, but having watched Bingtao get the better of a scrappy opening two frames, hauled himself into the match by winning the third frame and then levelling the scores with a brilliant 102 in frame four.

Maguire then led for the first time when returning from the mid-session interval to claim the fifth frame before Bingtao responded with contributions of 84 and 50 to inch back in front at 4-3.

When Maguire hit straight back with a then tournament high break of 137, he would have been happy with his position - back on level terms and with the £15,000 top break prize apparently in his grasp.

However, the next two frames were shared to take the match into a final-frame decider that had always looked to be on the cards, and it was Bingtao who would have the last laugh.

An early miss from the Scot in that 11th frame proved most expensive as Bingtao produced his best snooker of the season when it mattered most, holding himself together with all the poise of a seasoned champion - a quite brilliant 141 ending Maguire's title hopes and with it, his chances of claiming the high break prize.

A rare show of emotion from Bingtao came towards at the end of that match-winning break, and Maguire was keen to offer his congratulations to his opponent, too, a warm handshake not necessarily in line with current social distances protocols but befitting another thoroughly engrossing Masters encounter.