John Higgins close to the finish line but still has work to do at the Crucible

Four-time champion John Higgins is one frame away from booking his place in the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship after his marathon clash against Xiao Guodong could not be decided inside three sessions.

Facing a race against time to complete the match before the afternoon action commenced, Higgins won two frames in a row after the mid-session interval but was frustrated by Xiao with the winning post in sight, as the Chinese star battled back to make it 12-11 just over four hours after the session began.

The pair will return to finish the match on Saturday evening, playing on the first available table following the scheduled matches.

HIGGINS WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! 😱

The four-time World Champion had the match in his hands — but misses a black off the spot — and Xiao Guodong punishes him meaning the pair will have to return tonight!#HaloWorldChampionship pic.twitter.com/KxgvtP7KtI

— WST (@WeAreWST) April 26, 2025

There had been nothing to separate them after each of the first two sessions, which finished at 4-4 and 8-8 respectively.

And the third session followed the same pattern as no player led by more than one frame until after the interval on Saturday, with Higgins bouncing back from losing the opener by taking the next two before Xiao levelled things up at 10-10 by winning a mammoth frame that lasted more than an hour.

Scotland’s Higgins came out firing after the interval, making a break of 84 to take the 21st frame – his 2,000th at the Crucible.

John Higgins reached a staggering landmark in his #HaloWorldChampionship second round match against Xiao Guodong! 😮

Higg, you are a legend 👏 pic.twitter.com/kznVNSXhCb

— WST (@WeAreWST) April 26, 2025

With time running out in the session, Higgins managed to take the next frame despite missing a fairly straightforward pink at 65-0 up to open the door for Xiao, who was unable to amass the points he needed to overturn his deficit.

Requiring just one more frame to win the match at 13.40pm, the 49-year-old appeared on course for victory but let Xiao back in and was punished.

Zhao Xintong leads Chinese compatriot Lei Peifan 10-6 after winning the morning session 5-3.