Stephen Hendry insisted he can claim an eighth title at the age of 43 after he completed a crushing 13-4 victory over defending champion John Higgins to reach the quarter-finals of the Betfred.com World Championship.

Hendry's long-awaited first Crucible encounter with his fellow Scot, a four-time winner in Sheffield, failed to live up to expectations of a close match. Higgins played perhaps the worst session of his career on Friday night in a 7-1 second-session drubbing that saw him start 12-4 behind yesterday.

Higgins looked poised to take the opening frame but missed a pink and a break of 64 from Hendry, the oldest player in the competition, left the Wishaw player needing a snooker. Perhaps surprisingly, Higgins played on, but he could not find the snooker he required, and after he left a red on he offered his hand in defeat.

After breezing past the 36-year-old, world No 23 Hendry, who now plays another Scot, Stephen Maguire, in the last eight, said he did not view his age as a barrier to reclaiming a title he last won in 1999. He said: "I don't feel like the oldest player in the tournament. I don't feel like that at all. Perhaps it's because I haven't been playing so much competitive snooker, as I keep getting beaten in the first round. Perhaps I'm the freshest player out there."

Hendry conceded, however: "I'm fortunate in the fact that John has probably not played as badly in his life at the Crucible as he did [on Friday night].

"You feel lucky if you get one or two chances against John in a frame. At times I was getting four, five or six. I was coming to the table in shock and not really knowing what to do because it was weird. If someone had said beforehand that I would beat John Higgins 13-4 I would have thought they were nuts."

Higgins had no explanation for his Friday night performance. He said: "I have no idea what happened. From 5-3 I thought it would be close. I can't describe how bad it was – really, really bad.

"I probably have played worse, but this place can do that to you. It can give you your best moments but also your worst nightmares. It's a hard thing, a tough place when you're going through turmoil."

Maguire, meanwhile held off Joe Perry to win 13-7. The Scot had led 11-5 overnight, but dropped the opening two frames yesterday, giving Perry some hope that he would be able to force a close finish. That was soon extinguished though, and Maguire, 31, reached the last-eight stage for the fourth time in his career. He said: "I think I finished the match by winning the second session 7-1. I played OK in the first two sessions, but I wouldn't say I played well.

"I must have stolen about six or seven frames from Joe, just like I did in the first round against Luca Brecel. That's good because it hurts the opponent, but I'm only getting in really because they're missing on 40 or 50, which isn't good enough.

"If I come up against players who are knocking in 70s or 80s, I'm not going to get any chances to clear up. I have to improve."

Perry, who dropped just one frame to former champion Graeme Dott in round one, was content with his performance, saying: "I enjoyed the match. I think I gave a good account of myself against a very good Stephen Maguire. I think it boiled down to five or six easy balls that I missed when I should have won frames."

Asked if he thought Maguire can win his first world title this year, Perry said: "I wouldn't be at all surprised if he's sitting here on the Monday of the final celebrating victory."