John Higgins is just four frames away from his first ranking title in four years having built a 6-2 lead over Joe O'Connor in the first session of the Weide Cup World Open final in Yushan, China.
The final resumes at 7.30pm local time (11.30am GMT) with first to ten frames to lift the trophy and collect the £175,000 top prize.
Higgins took the opening frame on the last black then compiled breaks of 82 and 62 to lead 3-0. O'Connor, seeking his first pro title, pulled one back and made 61 in frame five only for his opponent to snatch it with a superb 63 clearance.
Further runs of 68 and 70 put Higgins 6-1 ahead, and though O'Connor got the better of the last frame of the session, he needs eight of the last 11 to pull off a huge fight-back.
Higgins has won 31 of his previous 56 ranking finals, and is aiming for his first ranking title since the 2021 Players Championship. Since then he has had a few near-misses, notably the 2022 Tour Championship when he squandered a 9-4 lead and lost 10-9 to Neil Robertson, so the Wishaw cueman will be determined to make amends.
Set to turn 50 in May, he is the oldest ranking event finalist since the 1986 Grand Prix when a 53-year-old Rex Williams lost to Jimmy White. Victory would make him the second oldest ranking event winner, after Ray Reardon who was 50 at the 1982 Professional Players Tournament.
Currently ranked 13th, the Scot will move up to 11th if he loses today and eighth if he wins, while he could climb as high as third on the Johnstone's Paint One-Year rankings.
O'Connor has only a modicum of experience compared to his illustrious opponent, as this is his second ranking final and he lost the first 9-2 against Gary Wilson at the 2022 Scottish Open. But the 29-year-old from Leicester has played the best snooker of his career in reaching the final, knocking out the likes of Judd Trump, Shaun Murphy and Ali Carter.
He is already guaranteed a career highest pay day of £75,000 which lifts him from 39th to 31st in the rankings, while victory would boost him to 21st. And the top prize would also lift O'Connor into the top 16 of the one-year list and earn him a place in this month's Sportsbet.io Players Championship.
Higgins has won three of their five previous meetings, and will hope to get the better of his English opponent again when they return for the conclusion.