Ronnie O’Sullivan and Stuart Bingham locked together early in World Championship quarter-final

‘The Rocket’ had looked out of sorts early on, before fighting back after the interval to level the match at 4-4

Ronnie O’Sullivan is tied at 4-4 with Stuart Bingham (Martin Rickett/PA Wire)

Ronnie O’Sullivan was locked at 4-4 with Stuart Bingham following the opening session of their best-of-25 frames World Snooker Championship quarter-final at the Crucible.

O’Sullivan, bidding for a record eighth world title, had looked out of sorts during the early exchanges following some wayward cueing as Bingham – who beat Jack Lisowski 13-11 on Monday night – took the first two frames with breaks of 55 and 75.

Bingham, world champion in 2015, was then set for a potential maximum chance in the next, but came up short of position off the seventh red, allowing O’Sullivan back to build a break of 66 which eventually proved enough to get a first frame on the board.

At the start of the last frame before the mid-session interval, O’Sullivan sent what looked a routine black into the jaws of the bottom right pocket, leaving the table set for Bingham to produce a break of 90 and further cement his advantage. ‘The Rocket’ returned to hit a fine 116 break and reduce the deficit with his 206th century at the Crucible.

World No 1 O’Sullivan looked to have spurned a chance to level up after missing a red into the bottom left pocket when on a break of 43, but Bingham then failed to sink one into the middle, which allowed his fellow Essex cueman back to pinch the frame.

Both players continued to make unforced errors, with O’Sullivan banging his cue against the table after missing an early red. However, another mistake from Bingham when attempting a long pot after running out of position gave O’Sullivan a chance to build what eventually proved a frame-winning break of 64 and – after Bingham had initially played on when needing four snookers – saw him move ahead in the match for the first time.

Bingham, though, made sure he would end on level terms with a break of 72 in the final frame to leave the match delicately poised when it resumes on Wednesday afternoon for the final two sessions.

Meanwhile, John Higgins staged a late fightback to trail Kyren Wilson 5-3. Wilson, runner-up to O’Sullivan in 2020, started in fine form with half-century breaks in each frame – including back-to-back runs of 95 and 93 – as he opened up a 4-0 lead by the mid-session interval.

Four-time former world champion Higgins – making his 18th quarter-final appearance after edging out Mark Allen in a thrilling last-frame decider on Monday evening – got a frame on the board after a fine clearance of 129.

Wilson, though, hit back straight away with a 121 break of his own before veteran Scot Higgins again dug in, pulling another frame back after a run of 73 and then a clearance of 102 left him just two behind heading into Wednesday.

In the first of two quarter-finals that played two sessions on Tuesday, Judd Trump found himself in a mighty battle against underdog Jak Jones. The Welshman has reached the World Championship quarter-finals for the second straight year despite showing little form throughout the season and dug in against world No 2 Trump to leave the match finely poised at 8-8.

Jones led 3-1 and 6-4 as Trump struggled to find his rhythm in a compelling, but at times attritional, match although the patience and intensity of the 2019 champion despite not being at his best bodes well. He will need to find further reserves on Wednesday morning when they play to a finish however, with both men needing just five frames for victory.

David Gilbert is in control of his quarter-final against Stephen Maguire as he leads 10-6 heading into Wednesday afternoon’s final session. On Tuesday morning, Gilbert blitzed his Scottish opponent to lead 7-1 and appeared to be cruising into a second Crucible semi-final after his 2019 heroics. But Maguire dug deep in the evening session to win five of the eight frames, including a century, to at least give himself a fighting chance in the race to 13.