Former champion Neil Robertson recorded two centuries as he established a 5-3 lead over Kyren Wilson in their quarter-final of the Betfred World Snooker Championship.
Breaks of 100 and 105, along with an extraordinary fluke on the blue in the fifth frame, helped Robertson into a 4-1 lead before Wilson reduced his deficit with a break of 76.
Robertson took a lengthy seventh frame before last year’s runner-up Wilson claimed the last of the session following confusion over whether he was 67 or 65 in front when he ran out of position with five reds remaining.
With referee Jan Verhaas establishing that Wilson was 65 points ahead that meant Robertson had the opportunity to snatch victory with a clearance, but the left-handed Australian crucially missed a long blue into the corner pocket.
Stuart Bingham and Anthony McGill were locked together at 4-4 following their first session, 2015 champion Bingham recovering from 2-0 down with the aid of two centuries.
Bingham was so frustrated at missing a red while on a break of 60 in the third frame that he almost punched the table, but McGill was unable to take advantage and Bingham won the next with a break of 64 and recorded the 500th century of his career with a 122 clearance to lead 3-2.
A 64 break from McGill, his highest of the session, levelled the scores and after Bingham edged in front with a run of 108, the Scot won the final frame of the session to keep the contest finely poised.
Both best-of-25 frame matches resume on Tuesday evening.
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