John Higgins holds slender advantage against Mark Selby in China Championship final

Higgins, 43, was far from his best when he beat Lyu Haotian at the semi-final stage to make a 49th ranking event of his career, and trailed 3-1 after runs of 82 and 70 from Selby.

Yet, Higgins rallied, winning four of the next five frames courtesy of runs of 52, 65 and 85 to take a one-frame lead into the evening session.

Despite Higgins’ dominance in the latter stage of the morning session, it was Selby who constructed the break of the session – a 118 in frame eight – to leave the match finely poised heading into the evening session.