World Snooker Championship: John Higgins two behind David Gilbert

  • Published
Media caption,

Watch ‘wizard’ Higgins hit 'sublime' 143 break

Betfred World Snooker Championship

Venue: Crucible Theatre, Sheffield Dates: 20 April-6 May

Coverage: Watch live on BBC One, BBC Two, Red Button, iPlayer, Connected TV, BBC Sport website and BBC Sport app.

David Gilbert had a four-frame lead cut to 13-11 by four-time champion John Higgins before Saturday's concluding World Championship semi-final session.

Tamworth's Gilbert led 5-3 and 10-6 after the first two sessions and a break of 75 helped him maintain his cushion at 12-8.

But Scotland's Higgins took three of the next four including a 143 - the highest break of the tournament so far.

Judd Trump leads qualifier Gary Wilson 9-7 in their semi-final.

The pair were tied at 4-4 after the first session, but a break of 65 helped Wilson to go 6-5 in front.

Trump won four frames in a row helped by fluent breaks of 73, 123 and 75 but Wilson's 77 kept him in touch.

Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Trump lost 18-15 to Higgins in the 2011 world final

Higgins made uncharacteristic errors in the first four frames of the second session against Gilbert, missing the simplest of pots and producing loose positional play, which six-time world champion Steve Davis called "mad" and "ridiculous".

Higgins improved after the mid-session interval, managing breaks of 67 and 58, but his poor performance was epitomised in the 16th frame, missing a blue down the cushion to allow Gilbert to clear and open up a four-frame advantage.

Higgins' peculiar showing continued in the third session and the first four frames were shared, although he did pull out a trademark double the full length of the table on the black to win the 18th frame.

Higgins' century, the 86th of the tournament, was followed by Gilbert's 91 break to guarantee an overnight lead, but Higgins responded by taking the last two, as they conclude on Saturday at 14:30 BST.

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