Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stuart Bingham tied at 4-4 after opening session of World Snooker Championship quarter-final; seven-time champion O’Sullivan trailed 2015 winner Bingham 3-1 after slow start; David Gilbert just three frames from victory after opening up 10-6 lead on Stephen Maguire
Last Updated: 01/05/24 6:40am
Ronnie O’Sullivan is chasing a record eighth World Snooker Championship title
World Snooker Championship favourites Ronnie O’Sullivan and Judd Trump are all square with their respective quarter-final opponents after an absorbing day 11 at the Crucible in Sheffield.
Seven-time champion O’Sullivan is 4-4 with 2015 winner Stuart Bingham after their first session in the race to 13 frames, with 2019 champion Judd Trump tied at 8-8 with Jak Jones after two sessions.
O’Sullivan looked out of sorts during the early exchanges against Bingham following some wayward cueing as his opponent took the first two frames with breaks of 55 and 75 and then appeared on course for a maximum in the third.
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Bingham came up short of position off the seventh red, allowing O’Sullivan back to build a break of 66 and eventually get a first frame on the board and then after Bingham extended his lead to 3-1 with a break of 90 once the Rocket missed a black off the spot, O’Sullivan fought back, despite still not being at his best.
He hit a 116 break – his 206th century at the Crucible – to reduce his deficit and then latched onto a missed pot to the middle pocket from Bingham to level the match before taking the lead for the first time with a break of 64, only for Bingham to restore parity with a break of 72 in frame eight.
Trump cannot shake off Jones
Trump faces a tense final session against Jones on Wednesday morning with the world No 2 being pushed all the way by the Welsh qualifier, who compiled a 117 break in the last frame on Tuesday night.
Judd Trump, who could face O’Sullivan in the semi-finals, is involved in a nip-and-tuck quarter-final with Jak Jones
Elsewhere, four-time champion John Higgins staged a late fightback to trail 2020 finalist Kyren Wilson 5-3, hitting two centuries and a 73 break in the second half of the session to rally from 4-0 and 5-1 down.
David Gilbert needs three more frames against fellow Crucible qualifier Stephen Maguire to reach his second world semi-final, after previously reaching that stage in 2019.
Gilbert, six frames clear after a dominant morning display that was highlighted by two century breaks, ended an entertaining second session 10-6 ahead.
Maguire reeled off three successive frames – highlighted by a break of 111 – after trailing 9-2, but Gilbert responded with a 130 total clearance before a 74 from Maguire in frame 16 kept his hopes alive.
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