STEPHEN HENDRY won seven of eight frames in his second session against John Higgins, as the veteran ended the evening 12-4 ahead of the reigning champion.
Hendry will progress to the quarter-finals of the Betfred.com World Championship if he can win one of a possible 10 frames today.
Having resumed 5-3 ahead, Hendry opened up a four-frame cushion as Higgins wasted numerous chances to reduce his arrears. The four-time champion did eventually get on the board by winning a scrappy eighth frame, but he was way off his vintage best. By contrast, the Crucible was reminded of a different era as Hendry, the 43-year-old seven-time world champion, once more kept a world-class opponent in his seat.
Hendry won the next four frames to move 11-4 ahead, although Higgins had good chances in all of them. However, his best break was just 41 as Hendry dominated.
The veteran is now one frame away from a first win over his good friend since the semi-finals of the 2003 British Open.
Stephen Maguire needs to win two frames today to reach the quarter-finals after the Glaswegian took an 11-5 lead over Joe Perry in the second session of their match yesterday. Unless the Englishman can win eight of the next nine frames, Maguire will start what could be a rush of Scots into the final phase of the £1.1m tournament.
Victory for Maguire would also guarantee an all-Scottish quarter-final, with Hendry now his likely opponent.
Maguire has not won a ranking title since the 2008 China Open, but Dennis Taylor, the former world champion now covering the tournament for the BBC, the Scot has a shot at the £250,000 top prize.
"This is the one he wants to win," said Taylor. "He hasn't done as well as his ability merits at the Crucible.
"He looked a little edgy in the first round against Luca Brecel, but you can understand that with all the extra pressure of playing the youngest ever player here.
"Against Joe Perry he made a statement by hitting right back at the start with two centuries of his own after his opponent had started with one. The first session was the best he has played here for a while, and he is motivated. Three of his fellow Scots have won this world title, and he wants to do the same and feels it is his time.
"It is amazing that a player of his class has not won any ranking title for four years. I just hope that doesn't load the pressure on, or that he doesn't try too hard, because that can backfire."
Mark Williams, the two-time world champion, must beat Ronnie O'Sullivan for the first time in 10 years if he is to advance in the tournament. The Welshman's last victory over O'Sullivan at a ranking event came at the Thailand Masters in March 2002.
However, Williams, who branded the Crucible Theatre a s***hole on the eve of the tournament, is determined to end that miserable run against the three-time champion.
"I've been owing Ronnie one for 10 years. Let's hope this is the time I beat him," said Williams. "If I said I enjoy playing him when I haven't beaten him for 10 years, I'd probably be a liar, but you enjoy the occasion.
"He always plays well against me. The last time he didn't play too well and he still beat me. I can't even remember the last time I beat him – only in the qualifying competition for the Premier League. I know I've got to play very well this time."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article