Stephen Maguire came from 3-1 down against Mark Selby to level at 4-4 in the first session of the BetVictor Welsh Open final.
Selby passed up a chance to go 5-3 ahead and Maguire capitalised to leave the contest finely poised going into the concluding session, which starts at 7pm. First to nine frames will lift the Ray Reardon Trophy and collect the top prize of £100,000.
A break of 43 helped Selby take the opening frame, and in the second he resolved a safety battle on the colours with a cracking long pot on the green for 2-0. Maguire responded with a break of 60 to halve the gap, and the Scot had a scoring chance in frame four but ran out of position on 24, punching the table in annoyance. He compounded the error with a weak safety, and Selby punished him with 78 for 3-1.
After the interval, Maguire fought back to 3-3 with breaks of 54 and 63. Selby took frame seven with a 116, the highest break of the match so far, to lead 4-3. In the last frame of the session, Selby made 41 before missing a red to centre, then misjudged a safety which let Maguire in for an excellent 81 clearance.
Selby is playing in his 36th ranking final and looking for his 24th title. That would move him level with Neil Robertson on the all-time list, behind only Ronnie O'Sullivan (41), Stephen Hendry (36), John Higgins (31), Judd Trump (30), Steve Davis (28) and Mark Williams (26). The first of his 23 ranking titles came at this tournament back in 2008 so he is now looking to double his tally of Welsh Open crowns.
The 41-year-old from Leicester is aiming to win his third piece of silverware this season, having picked up the Unibet British Open in September and the BetVictor Championship League Invitational earlier this month. Not since 2020/21 has he won three titles in the same season. Currently ranked fourth, Selby is now sure to move to third, behind Trump and Kyren Wilson. If he wins tonight, he'll be up to fourth on the Johnstone's Paint One-Year list. En route to the final, Selby made two centuries and 15 more breaks over 50.
Maguire is looking for a seventh ranking title, which would edge him ahead of Ken Doherty, Stuart Bingham and Ali Carter on the all-time list. He is playing in his 14th ranking final and first since the 2020 Tour Championship when he beat Mark Allen. The 43-year-old from Glasgow also has one Welsh Open crown to his name, beating Bingham in the 2013 final.
Prior to this week, world number 29 Maguire had not reached a ranking quarter-final this season, but has enjoyed a superb run in Llandudno, crucially winning a high percentage of scrappy frames. He is yet to make a century in the tournament, though he did score 12 breaks over 50 in reaching the final. Currently ranked 29th, he will jump to 26th if he loses today and 21st if he wins. And on the Johnstone's Paint One-Year list he has made a vital leap forward from 41st to either 23rd or 13th, guaranteeing a place in next month's World Grand Prix in Hong Kong.
Selby has won ten of 18 previous meetings, though the pair have never clashed before in a final.