Jak Jones boosted his hopes of becoming the lowest ranked Crucible finalist in 19 years as he established a 13-10 lead over Stuart Bingham in the third session of their Cazoo World Championship semi-final.
Cwmbran's 30-year-old Jones took five of the seven frames as he pulled away from 8-8. They return at 7pm on Saturday with first to 17 to go through to the final to meet David Gilbert or Kyren Wilson.
World number 44 Jones, who has already knocked out Zhang Anda, Si Jiahui and Judd Trump, would be the lowest ranked finalist since Shaun Murphy, then 48th, lifted the trophy in 2005. Only eight qualifiers have previously reached the final: Cliff Thorburn (1977), Perrie Mans (1978), Terry Griffiths (1979), Murphy (2005), Mark Selby (2007), Graeme Dott (2010), Judd Trump (2011) and Ding Junhui (2016).
Bingham, the 2015 champion, dominated the opening frame today to lead 9-8. The next came down to the colours and Bingham's attempted long yellow went awry, handing Jones the chance to clear for 9-9. It was a similar story in frame 19 as Bingham trailed 55-60 when he went full-blooded at the final green from distance, but missed a baulk corner and left the balls well placed for Jones to edge ahead.
Bingham had a scoring opportunity in the 20th but made just 17 before missing the black off its spot, and again his opponent took advantage as a run of 54 proved enough. After the interval, Jones extended his lead with a break of 63, despite Bingham's efforts to gain snookers which extended the frame to 49 minutes.
In frame 22, Bingham led 49-23 when he ran out of position with four reds left. Jones later trapped him in a tough snooker, and from the chance that followed he fashioned an excellent 47 clearance for 13-9. In the last of the session, Welshman Jones had a chance to go further ahead but missed a tricky red to centre on 16. Bingham gave himself hope with a 104, his sixth century of the tournament. He needs seven of the last ten tonight.
