Ronnie O’Sullivan was locked at 4-4 with Stuart Bingham following the opening session of their best-of-25 frames World Championship quarter-final at the Crucible.
O’Sullivan, bidding for a record eighth world title, had looked out of sorts during the early exchanges following some wayward cueing as Bingham – who beat Jack Lisowski 13-11 on Monday night – took the first two frames with breaks of 55 and 75.
Bingham, world champion in 2015, was then set for a potential maximum chance in the next, but came up short of position off the seventh red, allowing O’Sullivan back to build a break of 66 which eventually proved enough to get a first frame on the board.
At the start of the last frame before the mid-session interval, O’Sullivan sent what looked a routine black into the jaws of the bottom right pocket, leaving the table set for Bingham to produce a break of 90 and further cement his advantage.
‘The Rocket’ returned to hit a fine 116 break and reduce the deficit with his 206th century at the Crucible.
World number one O’Sullivan looked to have spurned a chance to level up after missing a red into the bottom left pocket when on a break of 43, but Bingham then failed to sink one into the middle, which allowed the world number one back to pinch the frame.
QF LIVE: O'Sullivan 2-3 Bingham (25)
— WST (@WeAreWST) April 30, 2024
116 for O'Sullivan in frame five.#CazooWorldChampionship @CazooHelp
Both players continued to make unforced errors, with O’Sullivan banging his cue against the table after missing an early red.
However, another mistake from Bingham when attempting a long pot after running out of position gave O’Sullivan a chance to build what eventually proved a frame-winning break of 64 and – after Bingham had initially played on when needing four snookers – saw him move ahead in the match for the first time.
Bingham, though, made sure he would end on level terms with a break of 72 in the final frame to leave the match delicately poised when it resumes on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, John Higgins staged a late fightback to trail Kyren Wilson 5-3.
Wilson, runner-up to O’Sullivan in 2020, started in fine form with half-century breaks in each frame – including back-to-back runs of 95 and 93 – as he opened up a 4-0 lead by the mid-session interval.
Four-time former world champion Higgins – making his 18th quarter-final appearance after edging out Mark Allen in a thrilling last-frame decider on Monday evening – got a frame on the board after a fine clearance of 129.
Wilson, though, hit back straight away with a 121 break of his own before veteran Scot Higgins again dug in, pulling another frame back after a run of 73 and then a clearance of 102 left him just two behind heading into Wednesday.
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— Eurosport (@eurosport) April 30, 2024
Judd Trump levels the match at 4-4 after a dramatic first session against Jak Jones #CazooWorldChampionship pic.twitter.com/JvS27tCIIj
In the morning session, former world champion Judd Trump was level at 4-4 against Welshman Jak Jones.
Trump produced a break of 110 to take the opening frame – but Jones then fought back before extending his lead to 3-1 at the mid-session interval.
The 2019 world champion then dug in as he recovered to take the next two frames and draw level at 3-3 before a break of 74 saw Jones edge in front again.
World number 44 Jones had looked well set to also take the final frame of the session, but missed a pink into the middle, which allowed Trump back in needing a snooker.
Trump then eventually sunk a brilliant double on the final black to leave the match all-square.
On the other table, David Gilbert built a commanding 7-1 lead over Stephen Maguire, with breaks of 83, 110 and 130.
Both matches were due to resume again on Tuesday evening.