The World Championship semi-final between John Higgins and Shaun Murphy is finely balanced at 8–8 after an absorbing second session at the Crucible Theatre.
Higgins made the stronger start, punishing early mistakes from Murphy to edge ahead, while Murphy responded with heavy scoring of his own, including an 88 break, to keep the contest tight.
The pair traded frames throughout the session, with both capitalising on errors and producing flashes of high-quality play. Higgins briefly opened up a two-frame lead, but Murphy fought back to level the match again after a scrappy 15th frame.
The best-of-33 encounter will resume on Friday evening, with the remaining frames to be played across the next sessions as both players continue their bid for a place in the final.
