Sunday 24 April 2016 23:36, UK
Ronnie O'Sullivan's hopes of staying in the World Championship hang in the balance after sharing the second session with Barry Hawkins.
Starting on Sunday 5-3 ahead, Hawkins, beaten by O'Sullivan in the 2013 final, kept his cool against his rejuvenated opponent as the pair shared the eight frames ahead of Monday night's finale.
Breaks of 68, 118, 82 and 89 from O'Sullivan showed he is scoring highly enough, but Hawkins clawed his way in front and takes a 9-7 lead into the third and final session needing another four frames for his quarter-final spot.
Four-time champion O'Sullivan demolished Hawkins 10-1 in the Masters final in January and he looked to dominate again on Sunday afternoon by opening up with a break of 68.
But he lost position when closing on the frame and Hawkins nicked it on the black.
O'Sullivan hit back with knocks of 118 and 82, in between a 74 from Hawkins, to remain two frames behind at 7-5.
Hawkins hit a cool 65 in the 13th to open up a three-frame advantage. O'Sullivan pulled one back with an 89, but it was Hawkins who ended the day in command.
Judd Trump became embroiled in a Twitter row as his title hopes took a major nosedive after falling behind 6-2 to China's Ding Junhui.
The 2011 Crucible runner-up had been tied at 2-2 and while in his dressing room during an interval, after making a break of 106 to split the opening four frames, Trump objected to a tweet from Welsh cueman Dominic Dale who criticised the ball control of the Bristolian.
Trump hit back by tweeting: "You are clueless. Watch my first break of 80 something then watch both his frames."
Trump took the evening's final frame to trail 6-10 to raise hopes of another fightback to match that of his first-round victory against Liang Wenbo.
Kyren Wilson continued to dictate proceedings against Northern Ireland's Mark Allen in their second-round tussle and will take a 11-5 lead into Monday afternoon's final session.
Wilson beat Joe Perry in a first-round thriller and was hailed during the match by Ronnie O'Sullivan as a player who could become the world's best.
John Higgins carved out a 10-6 lead over Ricky Walden on the other table, putting the four-time world champion in a strong position to clinch a quarter-final clash against fellow Scot Alan McManus.
