John Higgins dominates Barry Hawkins to move within one frame of final

Higgins is only one frame away from his sixth final at the Crucible after dominating an error-prone Hawkins, who between winning the first and last frames of the session was punished by the Wizard of Wishaw.

Hawkins actually won the first frame but was then subjected to a dominant display from Higgins, who needs only one frame when the pair resume at 7pm to set up a meeting with Ding Junhui or Mark Selby, locked together at 12-12.

Resuming at 10-6 up, The Scot lost the first frame of the session as Hawkins built a 69 break but fought back amid some tense snooker to take the next two frames.

Higgins added the third of four when Hawkins needed two snookers and then missed a red to make his task even harder, with the frame being conceded.

Higgins’ dominance continued as he wrapped up the next three frames as well, with Hawkins struggling to build breaks during his visits to the table. In the penultimate frame of the morning, Higgins supplied the second biggest break of the match with an impressive 90.

The last frame of the session opened with a moment which encapsulated Hawkins' frustration, as he nailed a plant, only to see the white go in. But Higgins was also struggling as he accidentally potted the green when needing a snooker, and Hawkins held on to keep his challenge alive - if only in theory.

93-28 (63), 69-22, 67-19 (59), 75-59 (Higgins 69, Hawkins 59), 30-100 (62), 30-95 (71), 65-25, 39-74 (74), 40-65, 92-6, 73-16 (51), 0-125 (115), 61-24 (53), 18-91, 89-0 (89), 73-45, 8-76 (69), 70-41, 55-47, 70-13, 65-62, 70-0, 96-4 (90), 48-80 (58)

Centuries: One

45-76, 77-22 (68), 24-84, 99-0 (99), 73-34, 53-87 (52), 1-119 (56, 50), 0-116 (110), 105-23 (100), 61-49, 62-26, 81-0 (67), 0-94 (84), 96-9 (85), 0-139 (139), 66-27, 128-8 (128), 6-95 (95), 6-80, 64-25 (64), 14-86, 66-61, 1-117 (117), 1-128 (128)

Centuries: Six