John Higgins heaped praised on Mark Selby after crashing out to the Englishman 5-2 in the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open.
Scotsman full of praise after Welsh Open defeat
John Higgins heaped praised on Mark Selby after crashing out to the Englishman 5-2 in the quarter-finals of the Welsh Open.
Selby has carried on where he left off after the Masters at Wembley, and has been rewarded with a semi-final clash with Stephen Hendry.
The 'Jester from Leicester' is hoping to collect his first ranking title after claiming one of the sport's most prestigious events - and he signaled his intent with an impressive victory over world champion Higgins.
The Scotsman could only sit back and admire after being on the receiving end of breaks of 71, 67 and a match-clinching 101.
"If Mark carries on like this I think only Ronnie [O'Sullivan] is capable of stopping him at the Crucible," said Higgins.
"He's improved so much over the last year, he doesn't look as though he's going to miss, and he's a complete player now.
"Mark was outstanding but I didn't play anywhere near as well as I could or should play which is really depressing.
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"I came into this season with a lot of high hopes but it hasn't happened for me.
"Seeing Mark perform like that has made me realise I've just got to get back to hard practice between now and April to stand any chance of retaining my title at Sheffield."
While Higgins lamented his own display - Selby could not be more content and believes there is still room for improvement.
He said: "It's nice of John to say those things about me. My all-round game is getting better and better and I'm scoring heavier than I've ever done but I know there are still things to work on."
Selby will go into the best of 11 frame semi-final encounter as favourite, but the 24-year-old is well aware of the threat posed by Hendry.
"Stephen beat me 4-2 in the Malta Cup last week, so I owe him one," he said.
"He's not been doing much lately but he's a class act and it was obvious he couldn't keep playing as badly as he has been. I still think he's got tournaments in him."
