Scot holds his nerve to reach final

The 35-year-old Scot was labelled "a disgrace to snooker" by an angry spectator, who was immediately ejected, during his last-four clash with Welshman Mark Williams but held his nerve to win the match 17-14.

Higgins came from behind to take the final frame after Williams had a break of 64.

The spectator interjected in the 28th frame, and was apparently referring to the story which broke on the eve of the 2010 final, when Higgins and his then manager Pat Mooney were caught up in a newspaper sting after a meeting with reporters posing as businessmen in Ukraine.

Higgins was banned for six months after admitting to breaching rules around betting, but the more serious charges of agreeing to throw frames for money were dropped. Higgins has always denied wrongdoing and seemed briefly rattled by the incident last night but held himself together to compile a break of 123 which gave him a 15-13 lead at the mid-session interval.

Asked after the match if the spectator upset him, Higgins said: "Not at all, no. No."

Earlier, 21-year-old qualifier Trump clinched a 17-15 victory over China's Ding Junhui to become the youngest finalist in Sheffield since Stephen Hendry in 1990, finishing off with a 105 break.

Trump, from Bristol, won the China Open at the start of the month, but is now just one win away from landing the sport's greatest prize. Scotland's seven-times world champion Hendry said on BBC2: "He's playing with the composure like he's been there for years. He seems to have come from nowhere almost. I've got goosebumps. He must be so thrilled.

"At 21, to get to the final, as I did as well, it's an incredible feeling and he must be loving it."

Trump made a tremendous start to the session, rifling in a long red at high pace to begin a break of 74 which was enough to secure the opening frame, and he went 14-12 ahead thanks to 89 in the next.

That made him favourite, but an over-optimistic shot at the black let Ding back into the next frame. Ding rattled in 138, matching the highest break of this year's tournament, set by Mark King against Graeme Dott in the first round. Unless that is bettered, Ding and King will share 10,000. Trump began the fourth frame of the afternoon strongly with a 51 break, but went against his usual instincts by playing safe.

Ding came back into the frame and won it with a remarkable clearance of 47.

Soon Trump had more to worry about when he left Ding the chance of a long starting red. In it went and the Chinese capitalised with another century, 119.

The 24-year-old led 48-0 in the next frame but Trump came back to win it. In the next frame Ding missed an easy red and Trump suddenly led 16-15.

He finished in spectacular style, ramming in some spectacular pots in a magnificent century.