Neil Robertson fights back against Jack Lisowski in crunch clash at Crucible

Neil Robertson continued to fight back against Jack Lisowski as he reduced the deficit to 9-7 in their World Snooker Championship clash at the Crucible.

Australian Robertson, champion in 2010, had dug deep earlier in the contest to haul himself level at 4-4 following Saturday’s opening session of their second-round match.

Lisowski, though, soon re-established a two-frame lead on Sunday following century breaks of 119 and 122 before leading 7-5 at the interval.

Robertson, the pre-tournament favourite, then kept himself in touch with a break of 54 only for ‘Jackpot’ Lisowski to hit a fine 137 clearance which was followed by a 74 to lead 9-6.

However, Robertson responded again with a break of 69 to leave the match poised heading into Monday’s finish.

On the other table, Judd Trump won six of the eight frames as he opened up a 10-6 lead over Anthony McGill.

The match resumed at 4-4, with Trump, the 2019 world champion, making a break of 52 and then 79 in the penultimate frame to help establish a defendable advantage heading into the concluding session on Monday evening.

Earlier on Sunday, Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham claimed the last three frames of the session to level his match against John Higgins at 4-4.

Higgins, a four-time winner at the Crucible, made breaks of 59 and 82 as he opened up a 3-0 lead.

The veteran Scot then moved 4-1 ahead following a clearance of 90, only for Saengkham to fight back ahead of Sunday’s evening session of the best-of-25 match.

Elsewhere, 2015 champion Stuart Bingham built a 5-3 lead over fifth seed Kyren Wilson, the 2020 finalist, with breaks of 75, 54 and 57.