Robertson establishes lead over Higgins in gripping affair

Neil Robertson established a narrow 5-3 lead over John Higgins in a fiercely- contested opening to their World Championship quarter-final.

Higgins compiled breaks of 61 and 56 to take the first frame and the fourth to draw level at 2-2.

However, the emotional and physical toll of defeating Ronnie O'Sullivan 13-12 in an all-time Crucible classic on Monday appeared to weigh on the Scot at times.

The four-time champion made six unforced errors before reaching the mid-session interval and was far from his best in a scrappy affair.

Australia's Robertson, who won the world title in 2010, also failed to hit the heights despite enjoying runs of 77 and 70 and at one point he even had to have his chair repaired, adding to the protracted nature of their contest.

While he took the final two frames of the session, his pragmatic approach and an unfortunate run of the balls contributed to a drawn-out eighth frame that lasted almost 52 minutes and delayed the start of the evening sesssion.

Robertson and Higgins resume on Wednesday at 10:00 BST.

In contrast, Hossein Vafaei and Wu Yize are level at 4-4 after an entertaining start to their best-of-25 encounter.

With both players seemingly focussed on attacking snooker, Iran's Vafaei knocked in a break of 66 to lead 2-1 before Wu underlined his status as one of the game's burgeoning talents with runs of 90, 56 and 56 to pull 4-2 ahead.

Vafaei, who had to win two qualifiers before advancing past Si Jiahui and world number one Judd Trump in a thriller, responded with a break of 71.

And he restored parity when Wu failed to knock in a presentable long black to the top left corner, clearing the table up to and including to pink.

They return for the second session of their best-of-25 encounter on Wednesday at 14:30 BST.

Meanwhile, reigning world champion Zhao Xintong let a 3-0 lead slip as Shaun Murphy fought back to claim a 5-3 lead in the opening session of their World Championship quarter-final.

Zhao, 29, has openly talked about the pressure of defending his crown and lifting the 'Crucible curse' that has followed first-time winners at the famous Sheffield venue, but began in scintillating fashion.

A break of 122 suggested Zhao had picked up from where he left off against Ding Junhui in the second round, and when he pinched the second frame and made a half century in the third, he had established a healthy advantage.

But Murphy, who won the title in 2005, crafted a 69 then reeled off the next four frames to turn the match on its head.

The Englishman took the fifth and sixth frames on the black after capitalising on errors from his opponent and controlled the seventh.

When Zhao missed the pink in a tense eighth frame, it handed Murphy a two-frame advantage heading into their second session on Tuesday.

Over on the other side of the auditorium, Barry Hawkins shared the opening six frames of a high-quality contest with Northern Ireland's Mark Allen.

However, Hawkins, who reached the final in 2013, had already compiled a century break and three other half-centuries, knocked in breaks of 75 and 63 to open up a deserved 5-3 scoreline to carry into Tuesday evening.