Judd jumps into the lead over Higgins

JUDD Trump took a 5-3 lead over four-time champion John Higgins after the first session of their World Championship quarter-final at the Crucible yesterday.

Trump, who lost to Higgins in the 2011 Crucible final, reeled off breaks of 58, 100 and 71 in successive frames to take a 4-1 lead.

Higgins responded with a run of 74 to take the sixth frame and also claimed the seventh, but Trump ended the session with a break of 77 to ensure an overnight lead in the best-of-25 clash.

Mark Williams and Ali Carter are level at 4-4 in their lasteight clash.

Williams, a two-time champion, started the match with a break of 135 but Carter responded with 63 to level and then recorded a century of his own.

No player enjoyed a lead of more than one frame in the session, which ended with Williams levelling thanks to a break of 68.

Barry Hawkins moved to the brink of the Betfred World Championship semi-finals as he took an 11-5 lead over Ding Junhui.

Hawkins, who has reached the semi-finals in three of past four years, continued his form in the evening session as three half-century breaks saw him increase his advantage from 5-3 to 8-3.

Ding, though, scored the first century of match with 102 and a break of 52 got the Chinese cueman back within three frames.

But Hawkins regrouped and scored his eighth break of at least 50 of the match, before a 113 clearance saw him in complete control.

Kyren Wilson is also in a strong position as he leads Mark Allen 11-5.

The 26-year-old had breaks of 125, 105 and three in the nineties to move to within two frames of victory.