'Isn’t much of a consolation' – Higgins on his deflation after greatest Crucible clearance

John Higgins admits his sense of elation after producing his greatest break of all time at the World Championship quickly fell flat with his exit in the next round.

After fighting back from 10-7 behind against the Northern Irishman, Higgins trailed Allen by 62 points in the decider, but produced a magical clearance of 71 that included an all-or-nothing double on a red to seal his progress.

“It’s the best. It will live with me forever,” said world No. 16 Higgins after his momentous knock.

But his joy quickly turned sour when he struggled to find his best form in losing 13-8 to Kyren Wilson in the quarter-final before Wilson progressed to lift the title for the first time with an 18-14 win over Jak Jones in the final.

For Higgins, who has just turned 49, there was the minor consolation of retaining his top-16 spot for a 30th straight season to give him access to next week’s Shanghai Masters in China.

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“It was like a mirror image of my season overall,” said the Scottish icon. “There were good parts to it, like the wins against Jamie Jones and Mark Allen. I obviously then ran out of steam a little bit at the end. I think it showed me what a tough tournament the World Championship is. Mentally to keep coming back, again and again, is hard.

“As you get a wee bit older, you find your mental reserves get depleted a little bit. That is what I found against Kyren.

“I struggled the first couple of sessions and was lucky to be hanging on to his coattails, because he was the better player. It was disappointing, but all throughout the summer people were coming up to me and talking about my win against Mark Allen.

“At this stage of my career, that isn’t much of a consolation. If you have been there and won it four times, then a last-16 match isn’t much of a consolation.

“I think it tells me that maybe over the years I’ve downplayed my wins. I think I should be really proud of them. These experiences make you realise how difficult it really is to win there. I think the best player of the tournament won. It was Kyren by far. He was definitely a worthy winner I would say.”

Higgins returns to action at the Shanghai Masters next week live on Eurosport and discovery+ against Lyu Haotian in the first round on Monday.

It is a title he claimed in 2012 with a dramatic 10-9 win over Judd Trump.

“It is a good city to go and play in,” said Higgins on Word Snooker Tour. “It is a well supported event as well. Top players against wildcards. It is a great event with top players.

“It is something I would have missed out on if I hadn’t stayed in the top 16, so I’m really going to enjoy it.”