John Higgins said he felt like “he’d been hit by a truck” after Judd Trump fought back for a 6-5 victory in their English Open semi-final.
Trump recovered from 5-2 down against the Scot to remain on course for his first ranking title in 19 months.
Higgins started strongly with a 124 break and looked set for victory, but runs of 88, 111 and 68 featured in a fine rally from his opponent.
Trump will face Zhang Anda or Liu Hongyu in Sunday’s final in Brentwood.
“At 5-4 I went to the toilet and when I came back in the reaction [from the crowd] was so loud, that inspired me to put on a show for them. That’s when I play my best,” said Trump.
He won the invitational Masters in January but has not landed a ranking event since the Turkish Masters in March 2022.
“I was hit by a truck. Judd started smashing them in,” said Higgins, a 32-time winner playing in his 82nd ranking event.
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