ROCKET’S LATE STRIKE

He grabs last frame to hit Murphy hard

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RONNIE O’SULLIVAN struck late to keep his bitter rival Shaun Murphy at bay yesterday.

‘The Rocket’ takes a 10-6 lead into the final session of his Betfred World Championship last-16 clash at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre today, needing three frames to win.

Five-time champion O’Sullivan looked at one stage as if he would inflict another session-to-spare defeat on Murphy.

In what is always a grudge clash between players with little time for each other, Murphy trailed 9-3 and was heading for the type of 13-3 drubbing O’Sullivan handed him at the Crucible in 2014.

But with his back to the wall, 2005 champion Murphy rallied to win the next three frames, helped by breaks of 84, 73 and 87.

Battered

However, O’Sullivan snatched a vital last frame of the day on the black after Murphy blew a chance to close the session two frames behind by missing the final green.

Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen got off to a flying and high-scoring start against fourtime world champion John Higgins.

The 31-year-old pulled off one of the best Crucible sessions of his life to move into a 5-3 overnight lead.

Allen, who lost to Scot Higgins in a 2009 semi-final in Sheffield, battered his rival with breaks of 71, 65, 100, 102, 129 and 82.

But Higgins somehow hung on to win the last frame of the day for some important damage limitation.

Allen has a winning career record against Higgins, with big victories at the Masters over his more illustrious friend and rival in recent years.

Meanwhile, defending champion and world No.1 Mark Selby knows he has a chance to hog the Leicester limelight this year. The 33-year-old is chasing a third world title in four seasons after soaring clear of the rest at the top of the world rankings.

Selby, who starts his second-round match against China’s Xiao Guodong today, is a huge Foxes fan, but with their Champions League dream ended this week, he knows sporting glory for the city is now down to him.

The first year he tasted Crucible success Leicester won the Championship and last year it was the Premier League – on the same night he became world champion.

Selby joked: “Leicester couldn’t retain the title, so now it’s time to see what I can do about my side of things. The two times I have won at the Crucible they have stolen my thunder anyway back home.

“The first time we won the Championship, with the victory parade during the final.

“And the second time last year they won the Premier League on the same night, so that was the limelight gone again.

“They can’t win the Champions League now this season. That was the only thing that would have eclipsed it again, so it’s down to me to make the most of it.”