Mark Allen set to go to wire with John Higgins for last-eight place

The Antrim cueman who revealed last week that he still loved to party, will face a fight with John Higgins if there is to be any champagne celebration.

Allen leads 9-7 in the first to 13 encounter and it promises to be a nail-biting final session at the Crucible this evening.

After an even start, back-to-back wins in the 11th and 12th frames put Higgins in front, but Allen then took control by winning the next four frames on the bounce – which included a 94 break – to lead by two.

Elsewhere. Stephen Maguire secured his spot in the quarter-finals by beating Shaun Murphy 13-9.

The Scotsman held off a late fightback from Murphy to seal victory. He resumed on Sunday morning with a 10-6 overnight lead and continued his quest to reach the last eight with a break of 68 before Murphy pulled a frame back.

Maguire then moved within one frame of victory but Murphy continued to battle, a 67 break earning him the following frame before he took the first after the mid-session interval to trail by three.

However, Maguire sealed victory in style, hitting the only century of the match with a 127 to set up a quarter-final meeting with David Gilbert.

Maguire said: “(Murphy) looked like he was comfortable in that session, so I was starting to get geared up for a comeback and a close finish. Once I got my chance, I finished pretty well there.

“Me and Dave (Gilbert) get on and we’ve grown up with each other for the best part of 30 years. He is a great player.”

Stuart Bingham fended off Jack Lisowski’s comeback to also take a 9-7 lead into Monday’s session. Bingham extended his lead to 6-3 after taking the ninth frame, but Lisowski responded by taking the next three to claw his way back into contention.

However, Bingham finished strongly to take a two-frame advantage into the final session.