The quarter-final between John Higgins and Mark Williams always looked likely to be an epic and, after a gruelling day of 16 frames, they could not be separated, locked at 8-8. Higgins had led 5-1 in the morning, but Williams closed to 5-3 then continued his surge into evening, a run of six frames in seven earning him the lead. But from 7-6 down, Higgins improved to move back in front, before Williams seized the last of the evening to draw level once more.
On the other table, though, an entirely different contest. Zhao Xintong leads Chris Wakelin 12-4 overnight, having taken both sessions 6-2. It might have been even worse for Wakelin, as Zhao missed frame-ball on more than one occasion, but he endured a terrible evening nevertheless such that the young Chinese needs just one frame when they return in the morning.
Ronnie O’Sullivan showed his frustrations during his World Snooker Championship quarter-final as he punched the table on Wednesday.
O’Sullivan, chasing an eighth title at the Crucible, was up by seven frames to three and had a 28-0 lead over his opponent, Si Jiahui, before he potted the pink ball, but that did not stop him landing a fist on the table.
The current world No. 5 had built up a strong lead in the first session of the last-eight encounter on Tuesday, going in 6-2 up.
He had hit three consecutive half-centuries to win frames three, four and five – a perfect response to Si’s second-frame century that had levelled proceedings.
In the morning session, however, O’Sullivan looked disgruntled with his showing, leading to him punching the table in the 11th frame.
