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Neil Robertson has admitted John Higgins' impressive safety play likely went unnoticed in their World Snooker Championship quarter-final. The Scot beat Robertson 13-10 in frames with the Australian complimenting Higgins' tactics that may have been missed by viewers and commentators.

After the match, he said: "His safety was unbelievable, it really was. And it's just the little angles that he's creating that commentators wouldn't notice and perhaps people watching wouldn't notice. But when you're out there and he's blocking angles by an inch or two at a time, you know, it's something to really appreciate.

"I wasn't enjoying it too much, but I was admiring it. I played probably about eight frame-winning safety shots in that match that John got out of. If I'm playing any other person apart from Mark Selby or John, I'd probably get in and win those frames. I went into my chair thinking I'd absolutely nailed him. You know, he tapped the table with a huge problem to solve."

Higgins, who beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in the second round, set up a thrilling semi-final clash with Shaun Murphy after the latter knocked out defending champion Zhao Xintong in the previous round. Following the first session, which lasted roughly three hours, the two are level on frames at 4-4.

On the other side of the bracket, Mark Allen will compete against Wu Yize for a spot in the final after quarter-final wins over Barry Hawkins and Hossein Vafaei, respectively. That clash is set to begin on Thursday evening with a number of sessions to come before the final on Sunday.

Despite Higgins and Murphy performing superbly in the tournament thus far, that first session between the duo was somewhat underwhelming. BBC pundit John Parrott was particularly critical of their performances but pointed out the reasoning behind them.

He said: "Do you know the best thing for this match? A good night's sleep. I am telling you now, this will be the best thing - they will come back tomorrow far better. They are both having hangovers from the last match.

"Some of the balls they were missing at the start of the frame were just inexplicable. Tomorrow it will be miles better, you will see a better match." The second session is set to get underway on Friday morning with both players eager to reach Sunday's final.