HIGGINS HAS EDGE IN CRUCIBLE SEMI

JOHN HIGGINS will take a 5-3 lead into today’s second session of his Betfred World Championship semi-final with Kyren Wilson. The four-time champion raced into a 3-0 lead and then endured a mini Wilson fightback before clinching the final frame of the day. Higgins forged ahead with breaks of 57, 65 and 77 before Wilson — in his first semi-final at the Crucible — finally got on the board before the mid-session interval. The Scot restored his advantage after the resumption with a frame-winning clearance of 69, but the 26-year-old found his form to claim the next two, including a brilliant break of 140 in the seventh. But Wilson missed an inviting red in the final frame of the day and Higgins took advantage, clearing to the pink, as he aims to reach a seventh final in Sheffield. In the second semi-final, Barry Hawkins took a 5-3 lead over two-time champion Mark Williams last night. Williams, 43, is aiming to become the oldest man to lift the trophy since 45-year-old Ray Reardon won his sixth world crown in 1978.