Mark Selby established a convincing 6-2 lead over fellow three-time champion Mark Williams in their world championship quarter-final on Tuesday.
The Englishman won the first two frames without conceding a point, including a break of 121, and was 3-1 ahead at the mid-session interval in a best-of-25-frame match.
Williams, whose first pot was an extraordinary five-ball plant in the third frame, reduced the deficit with a break of 60.
The Welshman led 55-6 in the first frame after the interval but couldn’t prevent Selby taking it before breaks of 90 and 76 extended his lead to 6-1.