John Higgins builds commanding 8-0 lead against Kyren Wilson at the Crucible

John Higgins reeled off three century breaks and three more over 50 to claim a scarcely-believable 8-0 lead in his World Snooker Championship second-round clash against an off-colour Kyren Wilson.

Higgins has had one of his most disappointing seasons with a string of early exits from ranking events but he cruised past David Grace 10-3 in his Crucible opener and laid down a stunning marker on Sunday.

The four-time champion made a clinical start with 136 and 137 total clearances, and a break of 57 allowed him to establish a three-frame advantage with Wilson’s table time limited.

John Higgins was in spectacular form early on Sunday (Nigel French/PA)
John Higgins was in spectacular form early on Sunday (Nigel French/PA)

The one-way traffic resumed as the players came back out, with Higgins taking scrappy fifth and sixth frames while further breaks of 134 and 80 saw the Scot claim a remarkable first-session whitewash.

With the match resuming on Sunday evening, Wilson does not have long to lick his wounds as Higgins can contemplate the possibility of wrapping up a win in the first-to-13 encounter with a session to spare.

On a good day for Scotland, Anthony McGill only needs two frames to move through to the quarter-finals after establishing a 11-5 advantage against Jack Lisowski.

Mark Selby considers his options
Mark Selby considers his options (Nigel French/PA)

Had the Englishman managed a fifth, nerves would really have been jangling for McGill, who began the session with a 7-1 advantage, but he had the final word to leave himself in a very strong position.

Mark Selby is bidding to regain the title he last claimed two years ago, and he won the final four frames of the session to lead Gary Wilson 10-6.

Selby began the afternoon leading 5-3 but Wilson won three of the first four frames to level at 6-6 before the four-time former champion pulled away.

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