By World Snooker Tour

Ronnie O'Sullivan recovered a 3-1 deficit to tie Stuart Bingham 4-4 in the first session of their Cazoo World Championship quarter-final, while Kyren Wilson established a 5-3 advantage over John Higgins.

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O'Sullivan was out of sorts for much of the session and banged the table with his cue at one point after missing a routine red. But the seven-time champion weathered the storm and squared the tie going into Wednesday, with further sessions at 2.30pm and 7pm. First to 13 will go through to face Judd Trump or Jak Jones in the semi-finals.

Bingham beat O'Sullivan 13-9 at the same stage on his way to the title in 2015 and started strongly today with breaks of 55 and 75 to take the first two frames. In the third he was on 51 when he missed a red to a top corner with the rest, and O'Sullivan got going with a 66 clearance. World number one O'Sullivan, chasing a 14th Crucible semi-final, had a scoring chance in the fourth but failed to pot a short range black and his opponent replied with 79 for 3-1.

A run of 116, his third century of the tournament, gave O'Sullivan frame five. In the sixth, Bingham trailed 63-34 when his attempted slow rolled pot on the last red to a centre pocket hit the far jaw, allowing O'Sullivan to level at 3-3. The Rocket then took the lead for the first time with a break of 70, but Bingham dominated the last of the session to restore parity overnight.

Four-time champion Higgins made what he described as his greatest ever clearance on Monday night to beat Mark Allen 13-12, but he looked jaded in the early exchanges of his tie with Wilson, falling 4-0 behind. Breaks of 70, 95, 93 and 71 helped Wilson, who was runner-up here in 2020, storm ahead.

After the interval, Higgins found some rhythm with a break of 129, before Wilson responded with a 121 for 5-1. A run of 73 gave Higgins frame seven, and in the last of the session he pounced when Wilson missed a mid-range red on 19, firing a superb 102, the 995th century of his career. 

They return on Wednesday at 10am for eight more frames, ahead of the conclusion from 7pm, with the winner to meet David Gilbert or Stephen Maguire.