World Championship snooker: Latest news on semi-finals at the Crucible including Ronnie O'Sullivan v Mark Selby

Selby had done well to get out of the first session in touch, and capitalised on that by taking all four frames up to Thursday afternoon's mid-session interval.

O'Sullivan rallied to take two of the following three, but a missed pink in the final frame of the day cost him the chance to draw level and saw the five-time champion slam his fist down on the side of the table.

Selby ruthlessly mopped up to make it a fine session, one which gives him a slender but not insignificant advantage ahead of Friday's denouement.

The first frame of the afternoon set the tone as a dogged Selby got back within one of O'Sullivan, who had missed a straightforward black after another poor contact, but the second came with a break of 97 and confirmation that the Leicester man was in much better nick.

After missing a blue and a black when among the balls twice in the next, O'Sullivan was powerless to prevent Selby capitalising after a brilliant long red, his confidence soaring as the match turned, and a clean sweep of the first four was completed when The Rocket again failed to take advantage of getting in first.

Returning from a welcome 15-minute interval, O'Sullivan - who had been unfortunate at times - produced breaks of 87 and 82, with another half-century from Selby sandwiched in-between.

That left the latter in a narrow lead with one to play and that became two when he took what looked like a hugely important frame, another in which O'Sullivan had chances. This time he was unfortunate, two canons not working out as hoped before his mid-range pink rattled the jaws.

Selby swept in with a frame-winning 76 break to complete a fine day's work and put himself firmly in the ascendancy. O'Sullivan meanwhile will do well to convince people that this is just a bit of fun, having thumped the table knowing an opportunity to escape at 8-8 had gone begging.

Selby though made no secret of how pleased he was at a job well done, clenching his own fist as the players left the arena ahead of a fascinating Friday.

Wilson takes control

Kyren Wilson is firmly on course for a first World Championship final after dominating both sessions against Anthony McGill on Thursday.

Trailing 6-2 overnight, Wilson first levelled the scores at 8-8, before returning in the evening to move into a 13-11 lead heading into the final session on Friday afternoon.

The Englishman set the tone from the opening exchanges of the morning with a break of 100, before later adding a run of 116 as he took six of the eight frames played.

McGill clung on to his lead by taking the 11th and 13th frames to go 8-5 in front, but the Scotsman barely got his hand on the table after that as Wilson reeled off the last three frames on the spin.

In all, McGill drew a blank in five of the session's eight frames and potted just 47 balls, only really troubling the scoreboard in the two frames he took.

Little changed in the evening, and though it took Wilson until the 21st frame to finally lead in the match, the 116 break he produced to do so was a statement break from a man clearly ready to challenge for this title.

A scrappy 22nd frame also went his way before another century, this time a run of 105, put him in full command at 13-10 against an opponent still waiting for his first century of the tournament.

That century finally came in the next, McGill's 91st frame of the tournament, and a total clearance of 136 could not have been better timed. At 13-11, it kept his hopes alive in the race to 17.

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