John Higgins v Shaun Murphy live: Latest score from thrilling World Snooker Championship semi-final

Some pre-session reading for you: Three years on from the news that rocked the snooker world, Lawrence Ostlere delves into the story of an unprecedented scandal that saw 10 Chinese players banned from the game.

Yesterday’s session between Mark Allen and Wu Yize was a slog – not only was there the record 100-minute frame but another frame that lasted more than an hour. In fact, they only had time to play six of the scheduled eight frames…

However, it was a different story this morning with a glorious session playing out between the two men.

Wu made breaks of 142, 140 and 121 but Allen managed to hang with the 22-year-old rising talent thanks to runs of 56, 85 and 99 to end the session level at 11-11.

They will play to a finish in the race to 17 frames from 7pm this evening. It should be a cracker

Here’s a reminder of what happened yesterday, when an extraordinary frame lasted for a record 100 minutes and 21 seconds as Mark Allen and Wu Yize engaged in a bizarre stalemate during their World Snooker Championship semi-final.

But not everyone was impressed…

There’s been little to separate Higgins and Murphy so far but the 50-year-old Scot – bidding to become the oldest world finalist in history – finally edged ahead on Friday evening.

He made breaks of 70 and 101 to turn an 11-11 tie into a 13-11 advantage. “He always finds another gear, it’s what he’s always done,” purred seven-time world champion Stephen Hendry on the BBC’s coverage.

Can he now get the four frames he needs to win?

Good afternoon and welcome to The Independent’s coverage of the World Snooker Championship semi-finals.

We’re in for a fascinating afternoon of action as John Higgins leads Shaun Murphy 13-11 in the race to 17 frames, with the winner sealing a place in the final.

This has been a superb match so far. How will it play out this afternoon?