Bingham locked with ‘Rocket’ as Higgins stages late fightback

Ronnie O’Sullivan was locked at 4-4 with Stuart Bingham following the opening session of their best-of-25 frames World Championship quarterfinal at the Crucible.

Bingham, world champion in 2015, took the first two frames and was then set for a potential maximum chance in the next, but came up short of position off the seventh red, allowing O’Sullivan back to build a break of 66 which eventually proved enough to get a first frame on the board.

At the start of the last frame before the midsession interval, O’Sullivan sent what looked a routine black into the jaws of the bottom right pocket, leaving the table set for Bingham to produce a break of 90 and further cement his advantage.

“The Rocket” returned to hit a fine 116 break and reduce the deficit with his 206th century at the Crucible.

World number one O’Sullivan looked to have spurned a chance to level up after missing a red into the bottom left pocket when on a break of 43, but Bingham then failed to sink one into the middle, which allowed the world No 1 back to pinch the frame.

Both players continued to make unforced errors, with O’Sullivan banging his cue against the table after missing an early red. However, another mistake from Bingham when attempting a long pot after running out of position gave O’Sullivan a chance to build what eventually proved a frame-winning break of 64 and – after Bingham had initially played on when needing four snookers – saw him move ahead in the match for the first time.

Bingham, though, made sure he would end on level terms with a break of 72 in the final frame.

Meanwhile, John Higgins staged a late fightback to trail Kyren Wilson 5-3.

Wilson, runner-up to O’Sullivan in 2020, started in fine form with half-century breaks in each frame – including back-to-back runs of 95 and 93 – as he opened up a 4-0 lead by the midsession interval.

Four-time former world champion Higgins – making his 18th quarterfinal appearance after edging out Mark Allen in a thrilling last-frame decider on Monday evening – got a frame on the board after a fine clearance of 129.

Wilson, though, hit back straight away with a 121 break of his own before veteran Scot Higgins again dug in, pulling another frame back after a run of 73 and then a clearance of 102 left him just two behind heading into Wednesday.

In the other quarterfinals to restart today, David Gilbert has a 10-6 lead over Stephen Maguire while Judd Trump and Jak Jones will resume a closely-fought encounter tied at 8-8.

Stuart Bingham is level with Ronnie O’Sullivan.