Higgins takes early semi-final lead against Hawkins, Ding holds advantage over Selby

Barry Hawkins recovered from 4-0 down to trail John Higgins 5-3 in their World Championship semi-final.

Higgins raced out of the traps to take all four frames before the mid-interval break, but Hawkins rallied as breaks of 62 and 71 helped him win the next two.

In a nervy opening session where both players were guilty of missed attempts, Higgins took the penultimate frame before Hawkins ensured the Scot's lead was not too great going into Friday.

93-28 (63), 69-22, 67-19 (59), 75-59 (Higgins 69, Hawkins 59), 30-100 (62), 30-95 (71), 65-25, 39-68

Centuries: None

Ding Junhui moved into a 5-3 lead against reigning champion Mark Selby in last-four encounter.

In a repeat of the 2016 final, Ding's revenge mission got off to the perfect start as a break of 76 handed China's number one the first frame.

But Selby rallied to go 3-2 ahead, thanks in part to an impressive 99 break in the fourth frame.

However, it was then Ding's turn to hit a purple patch, and the world number six won the next three frames to take a 5-3 lead overnight, ending with a break of 116.

45-76, 77-22 (68), 24-84, 99-0 (99), 73-34, 53-87 (52), 1-119 (56, 50), 0-116 (110)

Centuries: One