Shaun Murphy showed class immediately after beating John Higgins to reach the final of the World Snooker Championship on Saturday.
The 43-year-old battled his way to a hard-fought 17-15 win over his rival to book his place in Monday’s showpiece event.
Murphy was pushed all the way by Higgins, who remains a fierce competitor at the age of 50.
And the world No 8 showed class immediately after his triumph by hailing his opponent and the way he performed.
“I came out today knowing if I got my chances I could score,” he told the BBC.
“When I got back to level pegging after the first two frames I thought ‘here we go’ and then at two frames down at the interval I knew I could do it again if I got the chances.
“But John Higgins…What a player and what a man. The harder it gets on the table the tougher he gets. The better he plays.
Shaun Murphy showed class immediately after beating John Higgins to reach the final of the World Snooker Championship on Saturday
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“It is just like ‘will you ever give me a break?’. He’s such a competitor. If I’m half the player when I’m in fifties as he is I’ll be very proud.
“When I was doing the aircrash investigation of the match, about how we got to this point, I was probably pushing the pedal a bit too much and I was thinking ‘he wouldn’t play that, Mark Selby wouldn’t play that’.
“So I decided not to do that today, which was hard for me because my natural instinct is to attack all times.
Shaun Murphy was pushed all the way by John Higgins in a thrilling World Snooker Championship showdown
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“But I decided to not make a shot which is like, there you go make as many as you can. Maybe I am learning eventually!”
Murphy is bidding to win the World Championship for the first time since 2005, when he was just 22.
On Monday, he’ll face either Wu Yize or Mark Allen.
Murphy feels he’s better than ever as he ages – and fired a warning to his rivals.
“I think I am a better player [than the one who won it in 2005] and a more rounded mature player,” he admitted.
“I was 22 and that’s 21 years ago and I’m a totally different prospect. A different package. I feel my scoring is still there as it ever was but feel I have become a more mature player. But there’s not getting away from it, I’ll say that I want to go out an play like it means nothing but it will mean everything.”
Shaun Murphy is bidding to win the World Snooker Championship for the first time since 2005
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Higgins, meanwhile, wished Murphy well and admitted that he found it difficult to keep up.
“It is down to the tension,” he explained.
“As you get older your action begins to go a little bit in the most extreme points of the match. But take nothing away from Shaun.
“Although I missed the black, Shaun was awesome. He has got a great chance to win it for the second time.
“He’ll be playing someone who can win it for the first time, so it’s all set up for a great final.
“It was a great three days. I thought it was a great match. We traded punch for punch and Shaun just came out stronger in the end. I’ll keep trying.”
