Mark Selby set a Crucible record of six centuries in a single match as he opened a commanding 12-4 lead over Stephen Hendry in the world championship. Selby now needs just one of the nine frames in Monday's afternoon session to secure a place in the quarter-finals.
The two-time Masters champion compiled breaks of 125, 108, 98 and 129 to race into a 7-1 lead after the opening session, and added 100, 127, 87 and 117 in the second. Hendry's only response of the first session was a 114, and although he won consecutive frames in the second to avoid defeat with a session to spare, the loss of the final frame after Selby required four snookers completed a miserable weekend for the Scot.
Selby, now the 7-2 tournament favourite, has equalled Hendry's 1994-95 record of 53 centuries in a season. That record was set when the 42-year-old Scot was in his prime, though he never had the opportunity to play more than 100 matches in a campaign as Selby has done this year.
Ronnie O'Sullivan saw his 6-2 first-session lead over Shaun Murphy trimmed to 9-7. Murphy had stoked the contest by calling 'pathetic' O'Sullivan's initial reluctance to pot the final black for a 147 at September's World Open, and also criticised him for not promoting the game through minor events. O'Sullivan declined to respond at length, saying only: 'Shaun wants to play the ambassador role and that's great but I've never wanted to do that.' He added that he had 'done more for snooker than any other player in the last 10 years in terms of putting bums on seats'.
Murphy missed crucial pots at key moments, but he took the last two frames of the day without O'Sullivan scoring to keep his hopes alive. The quarter-finals begin on Tuesday, with Mark Williams facing Mark Allen, who admitted to being clinically depressed in the weeks before the championship. Allen has twice won 13-12, against Matthew Stevens and Barry Hawkins, and said he 'seems to be able to find something when the pressure's on'. Graeme Dott beat Ali Carter 13-11 and will face 21-year-old Judd Trump, already a Crucible crowd favourite.
