World Snooker Championship 2016 Results: Latest Schedule After Friday's Scores
Ding Junhui is just three frames away from a place in the 2016 Snooker World Championship after securing a 14-10 overnight lead against Alan McManus on Friday at the Crucible.
The Chinese cueist stretched his semi-final lead in arguably the most high-quality session of the tournament in the morning and returned to enhance his advantage by two in the evening session.
Marco Fu missed the chance to take an overnight lead in his semi-final after losing the final frame to Mark Selby with the score now tied at 8-8.
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After claiming four frames on the spin to overcome the 2014 champion, Fu suffered heartbreak after cracking the tip of his cue, with a 10 minute break in play forced until it could be fixed.
Here is the schedule for the rest of the day's action in Sheffield, England:
| Morning Session (10 a.m. BST) | Best of 33 frames | |
| Ding Junhui | 9-7 | Alan McManus |
| Afternoon Session (2:30 p.m. BST) | ||
| Mark Selby | 8-8 | Marco Fu |
| Evening Session (7 p.m. BST) | ||
| Ding Junhui | 14-10 | Alan McManus |
Evening Recap
Arriving into the late session with a 9-7 lead, the Asian export continued his impressive form at the tournament to add two further frames to his lead and close in on a first-ever World Championship final berth.
Both players would secure a 90 percent pot success rate but it was Ding who will be the happier of the two players after taking the eight-frame contest 5-3.
World Snooker's stat proved the quality on show in the semi-final clash:
At one stage in the match he looked to be on for a 147 clearance checkout but cut the final tough red too thinly and missed the jaws.
PA Sport's emoji use shows just how close he came to securing a perfect break:
McManus made a winning start to session, before Ding struck back with three consecutive frames of his own. Showcasing his impressive cue action, last year's quarter-finalist made breaks of 80 and 113.
The experienced Scot then replied with two frame wins, including strong breaks of 59 and 81 to close the gap to his opponent to 12-10.
Guardian reporter Ewan Murray was particularly impressed with the action on show:
McManus should've narrowed the deficit further in the next frame but Ding made him pay for a sloppy red before adding the next two frames to his tally to close in on a place in the final.
Play will resume at 2.30pm BST with the man from China requiring just three more frame wins.
Afternoon Recap
Selby appeared to be in control of the tie after taking a 5-3 lead in the first session of the final-four encounter.
But the Hong Kong potter Fu—featuring in his first semi in the World Championships since 2006—hit back with the opening frame on Friday to close the deficit to just one.
A mistake on a key red in the next frame from the 38-year-old saw Selby return to the table and regain his two-frame advantage with a break of 55.
The Jester from Leicester recorded back to back frames with a 47 score haul to open up a 7-4 lead before Fu began to relax and play some of his best snooker of the match.
World Snooker showcased just one of his great shots on their Twitter feed:
A fantastic 135 break from Fu saw him head into the mid-session interval trailing by two, to keep himself in touching distance of his opponent. His strong potting form would continue after the break.
Three frame wins in succession set the alarm bells ringing for Selby as Fu moved level in the match with a sensational break of 138.
However, he would encounter real difficulties during the next frame as the tip of his cue fell off and the match was paused until it could be fixed.
LiveSnooker captured the moment which could alter the outcome of the match:
Fu showed great composure to return to the table and complete a break of 81 to put himself ahead in the penultimate frame of the day before Selby hit back to stop the rot in the finale.
Morning Recap
Ding had shown impeccable form to take a 6-2 lead in the first session, and he produced a fifth century break in just nine frames at the first time of asking on Friday.
McManus hit the blue from the break off to present Ding with the opportunity, and the 29-year-old took advantage, setting up a magical 138 clearance with a glorious long opening red.
Ding looked in untouchable form, but McManus responded brilliantly with his own 107 break in the second frame after his opponent missed a red with the spider, per Live Snooker:
The Scotsman had a chance to claim another frame in the third of the morning, but he broke down on 39, allowing Ding in to produce another brilliant clearance of 90.
A 97 visit then saw the world No. 17 into a 9-3 lead, and he looked as though he may build an unassailable advantage.
However, McManus moved back to within five as he won the first frame after the mid-session interval, prevailing in the first scrappy exchange of the morning.
He then won the 14th frame of the match with a break of 136 to move to 9-5 behind, finishing with a tremendous trick shot, per World Snooker:
McManus looked as though he would drop further behind again in the penultimate frame of the session as he allowed Ding in after missing a red on 55.
But Ding could not take advantage, and McManus got his opportunity from the resulting safety battle and moved to within three frames.
The final frame of the morning was loaded with significance as McManus looked to close to just two behind, and he battled hard for a stunning winning contribution of 125 to make it 9-7 and put himself firmly back in contention to reach the final.
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