John Higgins and Shaun Murphy all square in World Snooker Championship semi-final; Wu Yize starts strongly

In truth, the opening eight frames were something of a comedown from the high of the quarter-finals, with neither player at their best in a scrappy start to a match that still promises great things over the next two days.

Murphy started the brighter, to be expected given Higgins' late-night exploits against Neil Robertson on Wednesday, and breaks of 68, 69 and 100 saw the former establish a 3-1 lead.

However, true to form, Higgins battled his way back into the session by winning a protracted fifth frame and then the next on the final blue.

Murphy again edged ahead, but Higgins produced his highest break of the afternoon, a well-timed run of 50, to level up at 4-4.

The match will resume at 10am on Friday morning.

Wu wows in opening session

In the evening, Wu Yize made an electric start to his semi-final with Mark Allen.

Wu defied the magnitude of the occasion and barely put a foot wrong in establishing a 6-2 advantage.

The Chinese sensation raced out of the blocks with runs of 77 and 55, and was only briefly stopped in his tracks when Allen levelled at 2-2.

Wu was soon back into his stride, adding further breaks of 57, 78 and 64 which were aided by some quite magnificent potting.

Allen did appear well set to take the final frame of the evening until missing a straightforward black off its spot, allowing Wu to mop up the colours and a take a healthy 6-2 overnight lead.