Snooker scores: Neil Robertson beats John Higgins 6-5 in Masters epic

Those to have bought tickets for the Masters opener would've been expecting Ronnie O'Sullivan versus Higgins after the two giants of the sport were originally drawn against each other back in December, but Robertson made good on his late call-up and produced a performance from the Gods to ensure those paying customers were not left disappointed.

"An unbelievable match, I didn’t do a lot wrong really," a jubilant Robertson told the BBC. "John was playing incredibly well for 5-1 and he didn’t really do anything wrong.

"I played at my absolute best and I’m just so happy I could take my chance with Ronnie dropping out and give the crowd something to cheer about today.

"My target for the second half of the season is to bring my practice game and my talent (to matches). I don’t think many people have seen exactly what I can do. That match there shows how well I can actually play.

"That’s how I play in practice, I play that quick and people are constantly on at me about trying to replicate that."

For Higgins' part, this was another crushing blow at the end of a match he dominated for so long, breaks of 54, 78, 59, 86 and 66 putting the two-time Masters champion on the cusp of an impressive victory.

Up until that point, Higgins was foot-perfect, keeping his opponent chained to his chair as he looked to have left behind another deciding-frame loss to Judd Trump at the UK Championship last month.

However, old wounds don't heal easily and the Scot cut a dejected figure when missing to centre on 35 in the deciding frame, first chance spurned and an air of inevitability about the impending Robertson riposte.

And Higgins would've been forgiven for fearing the worst after Robertson had rallied with some of his best snooker for a couple years to take the match the distance.

This time it was Higgins' turn to sit in his chair, the Australian fairly racing round the table as he reeled off a series of big breaks of his own, a magnificent 118 in frame nine signalling the comeback was very much on, before he added a further run of 80 to draw level at 5-5.

Under the circumstances, having done precious little wrong for four frames, the long red Higgins opened with in the decider was quite brilliant, and he appeared in control until opting to play into the pack from a seemingly unfavourable position on 28, when two reds were already available.

The split never really looked on and when he missed a tricky cut back to middle on the next shot, Robertson stepped in with 57 to wrestle back the initiative.

A lapse safety shot from Higgins moments later ended his resistance, Robertson left to celebrate one of the greatest wins of his already illustrious career in front of a pumping Ally Pally crowd.

Higgins reflected afterwards: "He played tremendous to come back.

"Last frame I probably played the wrong shot going into the pack but he played great so every credit to him."

Murphy safely through

Despite a brief rally from Gary Wilson, Shaun Murphy booked in his place in the quarter-finals with a 6-3 victory.

Wilson rallied manfully from 4-0 down to reduce his arrears to 4-3, but Murphy regained control with a century in frame eight before finishing the job in the very next frame.

"Gary came out and probably thought he had nothing to lose after the first four frames, but he played magnificently well," Murphy said.

"At 4-3 I was very, very worried but I feel really proud the way I stood up and won that penultimate frame with a century. These are big matches and I’m delighted to win."