Judd Trump sealed a new World Championship record as he moved closer to booking his place in his first Crucible final since 2011.
Trump's break of 114 to go 12-8 up against qualifier Gary Wilson marked the 87th century of the Championship – eclipsing the previous mark set in both 2015 and 2016.
Resuming at 9-7 in front on Saturday morning, Trump recovered from a nervy start to take control of the session and his 14-10 advantage means he needs just three frames for victory when the pair play to a finish in the evening.
🚨 RECORD BROKEN 🚨 That's century number 87 of the 2019 @Betfred World Championship, and there's still plenty snooker left to play! How many more are yet to come? #ilovesnooker pic.twitter.com/U1kfCIDyoB — World Snooker (@WorldSnooker) May 4, 2019
Wilson had proved he had the ability to frustrate Trump during their previous two sessions but his dogged persistence threatened to crumble as the favourite took the first two frames of the day.
Both players were guilty of frequently spurning opportunities and it appeared Wilson in particular was irritated by the quality of the table, which has also been criticised by a number of other players this year.
Wilson did manage to chisel out his first frame win of the day despite missing an easy pink to haul back to 11-8, but Trump's blistering response threatened to set the tone for the rest of the session.
Again Wilson would not be shaken off, winning two of the next three frames including a hard-earned break of 52 to give himself some hope at 13-10.
Errors from both players resurfaced in the potentially crucial final frame of the morning session, before Trump got the better of an extended safety battle to extend his lead.
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