Higgins bursts clear of Allen

John Higgins put himself on course to beat Mark Allen with a session to spare in their Betfred.com World Snooker Championship semi-final.

The Scot stretched his lead from 6-2 to 13-3 by winning seven of the eight frames in Friday's opening session.

After final-frame deciders against Jamie Cope and Mark Selby in the previous two rounds, two-time former champion Higgins was having it far easier against Northern Irishman Allen, who put up little resistance.

Higgins' terrific performance put him four frames away from a place in the final, and meant there was a strong chance the match would finish on Friday evening, negating the need for Saturday's scheduled afternoon session.

Allen, 23, knocked out Ronnie O'Sullivan and Ryan Day to reach his first Crucible semi-final, but he could not find any rhythm and his all-round play was erratic.