Higgins two behind Williams
Mark Williams holds a two-frame lead in his Betfred.com World Championship semi-final against John Higgins.
Last Updated: 29/04/11 9:40pm
![Williams: holds a 9-7 lead over John Higgins](https://e2.365dm.com/11/04/660x350/MarkWilliams_2591073.jpg?20110429181914)
Mark Williams holds a two-frame lead in his Betfred.com World Championship semi-final against John Higgins after some fine potting at the Crucible Theatre on Friday.
Welshman Williams hit two centuries in three frames during the second session and at one stage he led Higgins by four frames.
However, the Scot then hit back by taking the last two frames of the session to cut Williams' lead to 9-7.
The former world champions contest two further sessions on Saturday to determine who progresses to the final.
Opening the day with a 5-3 lead, Williams did not make a large break in the opening frame but took it nevertheless without Higgins potting a ball.
Purple patch
Higgins won the next after compiling a run of 84 before Williams entered his purple patch, beginning with a break of 115 which ended in frustration for him.
The 36-year-old had looked on target for a break of 140 which would have put him on pole position for the highest break prize of £10,000
However, he missed the green meaning that Mark King, who had a 138 in his first-round loss to Graeme Dott, currently remains on track to earn the bonus.
Williams immediately had another chance to better King but after eight reds, seven blacks and a blue the break came to an end.
Having gained a reprieve, Higgins made runs of 42 and 17 and then fired in a long blue to edge ahead before sinking a clinching pink.
Williams responded, though, with a break of 103 and then pinched a low-scoring 14th frame to go 9-5 up.
Higgins himself needed a response in the final two frames and did just that, with runs of 40 and 42 helping him take both.