John Higgins produced a determined comeback to level his World Championship semi-final at 4-4 with Shaun Murphyafter the opening session at the Crucible Theatre.
Murphy made the stronger start, showing sharp form with breaks of 68, 69 and a century to move into a 3-1 lead and take control of the match early on. At that stage, he looked set to build a clear advantage heading into the break.
However, Higgins — a four-time world champion — dug deep despite appearing fatigued after his late-night quarter-final win. He struggled for fluency and missed some routine shots, but relied on his experience and resilience to claw his way back into the contest.
The Scot took a couple of scrappy frames to close the gap and then finished strongly, including a break of 50 in the final frame, to draw level by the end of the session.
With the match now finely balanced, both players will return for the next session with everything still to play for in their race to reach the final.
