John Higgins stages stunning World Snooker Championship comeback to beat Ronnie O'Sullivan at Sheffield's Crucible

O’Sullivan twice led by five frames but lost six in a row across the final two sessions, and Higgins fired three centuries on Monday before holding his nerve to get over the line in the decider and complete a memorable 13-12 win.

O’Sullivan shrugged off his loss and revealed he had booked a flight back to his base in Ireland for Monday morning having been so convinced before their high-profile showdown that he was set to lose the match with a session to spare.

“I’ve got to be honest with you, I had a flight booked home early this morning because I wasn’t sure if I’d get to the third session before the match started,” said O’Sullivan, who has played sporadically on the circuit this season.

“I was realistic about my chances. I haven’t been in any big matches for two years. Playing the top boys in a real pressure situation now, I knew it was going to kind of expose me in some sort of way.

"I was really shocked that I was able to make a game of it, to be honest with you.”

Remarkably, it was Higgins who looked more likely to exit the tournament without the need for a Monday session, after looking distinctly out of sorts in the early stages, trailing 8-3 then 9-4 and looking bereft of his usual battling qualities.

But he forced a rare show of frustration from O’Sullivan as he chipped back to a 9-7 overnight deficit, and turned on the style in the final session by firing three centuries en route to completing one of the most memorable wins of his career.

“It’s got to be up there,” said Higgins.

“I’m just delighted I came to the party in the third session, because after the first two sessions, how I was only 9-7 behind, I’ll never know. Ronnie was by far the better player.

“The atmosphere was incredible. I’ll be honest, the ovation we got walking in there, it threw me. I just felt like I was like a rabbit in the headlights a little bit, and I think Ronnie could thrive off that and just settled down straight away.”

O’Sullivan’s chances of regaining the ascendency on Morning afternoon took an early hit when he broke down on a mid-range red in the opening frame and Higgins showed he was up for the fight by taking the frame with a break of 58.

Successive centuries shunted the Scot in front for the first time at 10-9, but O’Sullivan slugged straight back with a coolly-dispatched 62 to haul level, before a brilliant 93 with the black out of commission suggested the favourite was back on course for victory.

Higgins responded with his third century of the session and the pair split breaks in excess of 80 to set up a nerve-racking decider.

Both had early chances but it was Higgins who grasped his at the second attempt to go on and record a famous win.

Mark Selby, meanwhile, criticised the “horrific” state of the Crucible table after crashing out of the World Championship in a 13-11 defeat to China’s Wu Yize.

Four-time champion Selby drew on his years of experience to push the 22-year-old rising star all the way but ultimately cut a frustrated figure as Wu held his nerve to book his place in the last eight.

Selby branded his own performance “pathetic” and added: “I felt like the conditions were the worst I’ve experienced here at the World Championship, for sure.

“It’s not the reason I lost that match, but it’s disappointing to come to a tournament that is the pinnacle of our sport and think the conditions are going to play really well and they’re not.

“In my first game against Jak Jones I felt like the table was absolutely horrific. It was tough.

"I know they (the table-fitters) did the best job possible, but something needs to happen because it’s so inconsistent from one tournament to the next.”