Ronnie O’Sullivan thumped the desk in frustration as John Higgins reeled within the seven-time world snooker champion in an enthralling second session of their second spherical match on the Crucible on Sunday night time.
O’Sullivan twice led by 5 frames and seemed set to cruise in the direction of the quarter-finals on the expense of the out-of-sorts Scot, earlier than Higgins drew on his many years of top-level expertise to finish the night simply two adrift at 9-7.
A pivotal closing body of the session proved an excessive amount of for O’Sullivan, who gave the cushion a painful rap along with his knuckles after lacking an early crimson, earlier than Higgins edged over the road to complete a lot the happier of the 2 gamers.
Higgins by no means bought going within the early levels, however clawed out body 14 regardless of fluffing an tried escape from a snooker, and by no means seemed again. He reeled in a 55-point deficit within the subsequent, then held his nerve in an edgy final body of the night time during which each gamers went in-off at essential moments.
Earlier, Zhao Xintong moved nearer to cracking the so-called “Crucible Curse” as he booked his quarter-final place, wrapping up a hard-fought 13-9 win over compatriot Ding Junhui.
The defending champion shrugged off some evident nerves to construct on a 9-7 in a single day benefit regardless of shedding an error-strewn, 46-minute opener that noticed Ding briefly scale back the arrears to a single body.
The 29-year-old – who’s seeking to turn out to be the one first-time winner to retain his title on the Crucible – capitalised on a sequence of misses by his opponent to tug away. Zhao produced a break of 108 within the penultimate body as he arrange a last-eight conflict with Shaun Murphy.
“Right now I feel there was extra strain,” Zhao instructed BBC Sport. “I do know Ding didn’t play very properly within the final session, however the strain may be very massive. This 12 months I simply don’t need to lose any match, so it feels very totally different.”
Wu Yize long-established a 9-7 lead over four-time champion Mark Selby in an intriguing conflict that can also be set to conclude on Monday afternoon.
Selby had threatened to overwhelm his opponent after firing successive centuries within the first two frames, however the 22-year-old Wu hit again to haul degree at 4-4 after their opening session.
And it was the Chinese language participant who dominated upon their return within the night, pulling clear at 9-6 earlier than Selby chiselled out the ultimate body of the night time to maintain himself inside touching distance.
Neil Robertson closed in on the quarter-finals as he established a 10-6 lead over Chris Wakelin, whereas Judd Trump edged 9-7 forward towards qualifier Hossein Vafaei.
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