Chris Wakelin is 5-3 up on Xiao Guodong after the first session of their International Championship semi-final in Nanjing, with first to nine frames to go through to Sunday's final.
Wakelin is looking to reach the third ranking event final of his career - he won the Shoot Out in 2023 and was runner-up at the Northern Ireland Open later the same year. Victory today for the 32-year-old Englishman would guarantee him £75,000 which would be his career highest pay day and boost him into the world's top 16 for the first time.
China's Xiao - who is already assured a top 16 berth - is aiming to reach his fourth ranking final. Last month at the Wuhan Open he captured his first ranking title, beating Si Jiahui in the final.
After sharing the first two frames, Xiao's break of 83 put him 2-1 ahead. Wakelin responded with runs of 54, 77 and 61 to go 4-2 up, before Xiao pulled one back with a 73. In the last frame of the afternoon, Xiao led 53-8 but Wakelin made a superb 62 clearance to secure an advantage going into the concluding session.
The match resumes at 7.30pm local time (11.30am GMT). Saturday's second semi-final will be between Ding Junhui and Xu Si.
