Maguire takes four-frame lead

STEPHEN Maguire produced superb snooker against fellow Scot John Higgins to take a significant step towards reaching his first 888.com World Championship final.

Maguire dominated the third session in winning six of the eight frames to move into a 14-10 lead and now needs only three more.

Maguire is aiming to become the fifth Scot to win snooker’s most coveted prize after Walter Donaldson, Stephen Hendry, Higgins and Graeme Dott.

The duo had resumed at 4-4 on Friday morning and shared the next eight frames.

Higgins had runs of 90 and 52 – the latter in frame 13 briefly putting him ahead for the first time at 7-6 – while Maguire replied with breaks of 63 and 62.Higgins will regain the number one spot for the first time in seven years if he goes farther in the tournament than Murphy – the only player who can overhaul him.

But qualifier Mark Selby will go into today’s double session still well in contention to reach his first world final after drawing level at 8-8 with 2005 champion Murphy.