John Higgins has a slender 12-11 lead over Xiao Guodong in their Halo World Championship last 16 clash, with the match to finish on Saturday night.
The contest was pulled off with Higgins just one frame victory, with the afternoon session at the Crucible about to start. They will resume on the first available table during the evening session, with first to 13 frames to go through to the quarter-finals to meet Mark Williams or Hossein Vafaei.
Scotland's Higgins is looking for a 19th Crucible quarter-final which would equal Stephen Hendry's tally, behind only Ronnie O'Sullivan's record of 22. China's Xiao is playing in the second round for the second time and hoping for a maiden appearance in the last eight.
It has been a fascinating battle already, with never more than two frames between them. Xiao took the opener this morning with a break of 76 to lead 9-8, then Higgins dominated the next to restore parity. Frame 19 came down to the colours and Higgins converted an excellent long yellow to a top corner and cleared for 10-9. The 20th lasted 63 minutes and was settled on the brown, a rare safety bungle from Higgins gifting his opponent the chance to pot brown, blue and pink to leave them level again.
After the interval, Xiao had first chance in frame 21 but made just 7 before running out of position and Higgins took advantage with a break of 84. Runs of 24 and 41 were enough to give the 49-year-old Scot the next to go 12-10 up. He had a match-winning opportunity in frame 23 but, leading 53-33 and just four pots from the line, he missed the black off its spot. Xiao converted tricky pots on the last two reds, both close to the top cushion, and cleared the colours to keep the match alive.
On the other table, Zhao Xintong won five of the eight frames in the second session against Lei Peifan to stretch his lead to 10-6. They return on Sunday at 10am to play to a finish, with the winner to meet Chris Wakelin. Former UK Champion Zhao is just three frames away from a first Crucible quarter-final.
A break of 69 gave Zhao the opening frame today, and he took the next on the colours for 7-3 before Lei pulled one back with a break of 88. The next two were shared, then Zhao took two in a row for 10-5. Lei, who knocked out Kyren Wilson on his Crucible debut in the first round, won the last of the day with a break of 77, but he'll need seven of the last nine to keep his superb run going.