John Higgins battles back to frustrate Ronnie O’Sullivan in tense Crucible clash

Ronnie O’Sullivan thumped the table in frustration as John Higgins reeled in the seven-time world snooker champion in an enthralling second session of their second round match at the Crucible on Sunday night.

O’Sullivan twice led by five frames and looked set to cruise towards the quarter-finals at the expense of the out-of-sorts Scot, before Higgins drew on his decades of top-level experience to end the evening just two adrift at 9-7.

A pivotal final frame of the session proved too much for O’Sullivan, who gave the cushion a painful rap with his knuckles after missing an early red, before Higgins edged over the line to finish much the happier of the two players.

Higgins never got going in the early stages, but clawed out frame 14 despite fluffing an attempted escape from a snooker, and never looked back. He reeled in a 55-point deficit in the next, then held his nerve in an edgy last frame of the night in which both players went in-off at crucial moments.

Wu Yize fashioned a 9-7 lead over four-time champion Mark Selby in an intriguing clash that is also set to conclude on Monday afternoon.

Selby had threatened to overwhelm his opponent after firing successive centuries in the first two frames, but the 22-year-old Wu hit back to haul level at 4-4 after their opening session.

And it was the Chinese player who dominated upon their return in the evening, pulling clear at 9-6 before Selby chiselled out the final frame of the night to keep himself within touching distance.

Earlier, defending champion Zhao Xintong moved closer to cracking the so-called ‘Crucible Curse’ by booking his place back in the quarter-finals with a 13-9 win over compatriot Ding Junhui.

Zhao shrugged off some evident nerves to build on a 9-7 overnight