JOHN HIGGINS is set for an enthralling final session in his second-round match with Ding Junhui at the World Snooker Championship after there was little to separate the pair.

The Wishaw cueman led 5-3 overnight, but it was never going to be plain sailing and the Chinese superstar duly fought back to lead 9-7 and leave things finely poised.

The two-frame advantage that Higgins held following Thursday's first session was quickly erased in front of a packed Crucible Theatre audience on Friday afternoon.

Breaks of 49 and 28 were enough for Ding to clinch the opening frame with relative ease and the world No.3 looked even more impressive in notching a contribution of 80 in the next.

Seeing his lead eradicated seemed to galvanise the four-time world champion, however, and runs of 55 and 68 ensured that he claimed both frames before the mid-session interval to once again edge 7-5 in front.

Ding has made it past the second round just twice in his eight previous Crucible appearances, but looked determined to rectify that after the interval.

He reeled off three frames on the trot with a half-century break in each, his run of 92 in the 15th particularly impressive, to lead for the first time in the match.

Higgins, now ranked 13th in the world, has been exhibiting form reminiscent of his heyday in recent months and looked set to level proceedings at 8-8 with a 57 break, but Ding's 59 clearance means he has a two-frame advantage.

The Chinese sensation will require just four frames to book his place in the last eight when the pair play to a finish at 10am on Saturday, while Higgins needs six.

Meanwhile, Crucible debutant Anthony McGill went into his final session against defending champion Mark Selby with a glorious opportunity to cause a huge World Championship upset.

The Glaswegian potter came into Friday locked together at 4-4 with Selby, but won six of the eight frames on offer to establish a 10-6 lead.

A 125 break in frame 14 was the highlight as the Leicester cueman struggled to hang on to the 24-year-old's coat-tails.

And McGill's remarkable display meant the world No.1 would need to become the first man since 2005 to overturn a 10-6 deficit in a best-of-25 match to seal a spot in the quarter-finals.

Elsewhere, 2006 world champion Graeme Dott made a slow start to his last 16 contest as the Scot trails England's Stuart Bingham 6-2.

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