John Higgins, Mark Williams through to World Championship semi-final

John Higgins and Mark Williams have qualified for the World Snooker Championship semi-final after victories over Judd Trump and Ali Carter respectively.

Carter will play Barry Hawkins, who defeated Ding Junhui in the morning session while Higgins will meet Kyren Wilson, who defeated Mark Allen earlier today.

Higgins match against Trump went right to the wire, with the four-time champion eventually triumphing 13-12.

The Scotsman started the day 5-3 down and Trump appeared to gain control of the match when he stretched the lead to 7-3.

Higgins then won five in a row to gain an 8-7 lead but three in a row from Trump followed.

The pair shared the next two frames to put Trump 11-9 ahead but Higgins took the next three, including a break of 134.

Trump took the match to a decider but Higgins held his nerve to claim the victory.

Williams needed a less dramatic 13-8 win to despatch Carter.

With the score level at 4-4 overnight, the Welshman edged the afternoon session to take a 9-7 lead into the evening.

Williams dominated the evening session 4-1, scoring two breaks of 113 in the process and recording four tons.

“It’s going to be special and I will enjoy it more than any other semi-final I have been in,” Williams told BBC Sport.

“The tour is getting stronger, the standard is going up, I am getting older and I don’t know how many more semi-final I will get it.

“I am playing of the best stuff I have played for years. I am playing with a lot of confidence and feel relaxed.”

The best-of-33 semi-finals will take place over the course of Thursday, Friday and Saturday.