Joe O’Connor missed out on a maximum but chiselled a 5-4 advantage over John Higgins after the opening session of their World Snooker Championship first-round clash that is due to conclude on Monday evening.
The Leicester qualifier potted 12 reds and red blacks in the seventh frame and was on track to make the 15th 147 in Crucible history before missing a tough red to the top corner with the rest.
O’Connor, who dumped his good friend Mark Selby out at the first-round stage last year, largely controlled the opening stages but struggled to make his scoring count against the experienced Scot.
Higgins, the four-time champion who comes into this year’s tournament in top form after clinching the Tour Championship title earlier this month, failed to muster a single half-century during nine largely long and attritional frames.
But despite O’Connor’s 100 break in the sixth frame and three further breaks over 80, Higgins hung on and took the final frame of the morning session to suggest a late finish could be on the cards on Monday evening.
