Higgins Leads Overnight In Final

Mark Selby won the last three frames of the day to stay in touch with John Higgins in the 2017 Betfred World Championship final at 10-7.

The Scot dominated proceedings on the first day of the best of 35 encounter. He put on an impressive display in the opening session to establish a 6-2 advantage going into this evening.

Selby looked jaded following his exertions during a classic semi-final with Ding Junhui yesterday, however the World Champion displayed typical grit in keeping himself in the tie ahead of an intriguing final day tomorrow.

Selby took the first frame of the evening with a run of 86 but couldn’t kick on as Higgins reasserted his command on proceedings by winning the following two frames to lead 8-3. Higgins missed a pink whilst among the balls in frame 12 which allowed Selby to halt his opponent’s momentum and go into the mid-session four adrift at 8-4.

When they returned Higgins moved 10-4 in front with a break of 76. However, at that point the World Champion seemed to find a second wind. He composed runs of 81 and 121 before winning a tense last frame to go into tomorrow just three behind at 10-7. They will resume at 2pm.