Mark Selby said John Higgins match was 'like torture' as pair clash in Tour Championship

Snooker stars and will go head-to-head in the final, though if their last match is anything to go by, both will be in it for the long run. The two cuists have to the showpiece in Manchester, with Higgins making his way to the final by defeat Higgins defeating Xiao Guodong by a 10-3 and 10-7.

Selby, too, has looked in impervious nick, beating 10-6 before trouncing 10-1 and destroying 10-2. While both will fancy their chances of landing the perfect preparatory event before they travel to the hallowed Crucible for the later this month, the last time the duo faced off - at the in February - both endured an arduous time on the baize.

Selby and Higgins went blow for blow in Llandudno, though scoring came at a premium. The clash was punctuated by the highest break of the match, which was just 84.

The Jester from Leicester laboriously clambered to a 2-0 frame lead before a 68 from Higgins pulled one back. Higgins would take the next two frames, too, despite a 10-minute medical emergency delay amidst the run - though Selby quickly grabbed the lead back to sit on the verge of victory at 4-3.

Higgins was able to force a decider with a break of 55, but it was Selby's 84 that brought about the 5-4 win and his progression into the semi-finals, with both players lauding the drawn-out affair afterwards.

"It was like torture out there. We both struggled and brought each other down. There were a lot of scrappy frames," Selby told World Snooker.

"If one of us had played better, the other might have raised his game. The only positive for me is that I got over the line, and I can only improve tomorrow. If I had lost, I would have been gutted, but now I can put that behind me."

Selby would go on to beat Luca Brecel at the semi-final stage, making a stunning 131 break, before dominating Stephen Maguire in the final to take the Welsh Open crown. However, it wasn't just the Englishman who reflected on the painstaking quarter-final clash.

"It was a mammoth game," admitted opponent Higgins. "I gave it everything. I know the shots but I've got deficiencies in my game. I just can't bring myself to play the right shot, that's the disappointing thing.

"At 3-3, when I was on 61, I had to play a high black into the pack, when I have been playing the low black and screwing into the reds. I just don't have the cue power to play those sort of shots. If I had gone 4-3 up, then who knows? But Mark made a great clearance under pressure in the last frame."