World Snooker Championship 2026 recap - John Higgins creeps clear of Shaun Murphy to lead ahead of Saturday showdown

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World Snooker Championship 2026 live comments and streaming details. TNT Sports brings you frame-by-frame updates from the semi-finals at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. John Higgins will take a two-frame lead over Shaun Murphy into Saturday, with the winner set to take on the victor of the second semi-final between Wu Yize and Mark Allen.

'Absolute granite' - Brilliant Higgins snooker helps secure 19th frame

Video credit: TNT Sports

Higgins pulls ahead of Murphy to show mettle

John Higgins claimed a triumphant two-frame lead against Shaun Murphy in the penultimate session of their semi-final match at the 2026 World Snooker Championship.

Tied at eight each ahead of the 17th frame, Murphy would draw first blood. He potted 60 before leaving the door open for Higgins, but an uncharacteristic error on the black saw him score only one before Murphy returned to seal the deal.

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Higgins would make up for that mistake with a few scrappy visits in the next frame, building a three-snooker lead that the Englishman would briefly contest before a poor safety that allowed Higgins to pot again.

The back and forth continued as they went neck and neck through the next four frames.

A highlight of the session came in the 22nd frame as Murphy became only the fifth player to score 100 centuries at the World Championships, and The Magician joins an exclusive list of legends like Stephen Henry and Ronnie O’Sullivan.

Having improved frame by frame, Higgins showed his quality to take the final two of the evening, topping it off with a brilliant century of his own to draw cheers from the Crucible.

'Listen to the crowd' - Higgins makes first century of semi-final to secure overnight lead

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Higgins and Murphy will meet for the last time tomorrow afternoon at 2:30pm, where one of them will move on to face the victor between Wu Yize and Mark Allen in the final.

Those two truly went through the crucible earlier today as they played a historic 100 minute frame, and they have two sessions remaining to play at 7-7.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 13-11 Murphy

It all rests on the black again as Higgins sits on 93 - the arena explodes with noise as he sinks it for the century! He pots only one more red after that and Murphy comes out for a handshake. The Wizard of Wishaw breaks the chain of tied sessions as the two go into the final session tomorrow afternoon 13-11 to Higgins.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 12-11 Murphy (70-0)

Higgins has just seemed to get better and better as the session has gone on. He sinks frame ball, a black, and there's a small frown on Murphy's brow now as he watches on from his chair.

The Scot is in full control of the table and it would be the cherry on top if he can take the a century. He's had four so far but none yet in the semi-final.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 12-11 Murphy (40-0)

This will be our last frame this evening and Higgins will get us started. Murphy's safety leaves the Scot the opportunity to sink a thrilling long red and he's off. Will this be the first time we see a two frame lead tonight?

World Championship LIVE - A match full of history

Murphy nailed a century of 105 in the 22nd frame of this match, and he joins icons like Stephen Hendry and Ronnie O'Sullivan to become only the fifth man to score 100 tons here at the legendary Crucible.

'When he was a boy he dreamed of making one' - Murphy joins elite club with 100th Crucible century

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World Championship LIVE - Higgins 12-11 Murphy

Murphy's burden grows ever larger as he fouls. Two snookers now, and Higgins will leave the red at the mouth of the left corner pocket. Murphy collects that, but he misses his next shot on the black and he concedes there!

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 11-11 Murphy (70-32)

Higgins needs one more red to fore a snooker, with his shot on the black, he pushes the cue ball into a red to get an angle for his next shot, and he sinks the red effortlessly.

But groans now as he fails to pot the black along the rail, and Murphy will step up to pot. The Englishman whittles it down to one last red before going for the snooker.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 11-11 Murphy (30-0)

It's not the easiest table in the world, there are three reds on the cushions. Time will tell if Higgins needs them but so far his positional play has been flawless and he's slowly stretching that lead.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 11-11 Murphy (1-0)

Murphy to break. Higgins eyes up a shot at the side of the pack, but it stays in the mouth of the right corner. It was a curious choice as the cue ball now sits in the middle of the reds, with perhaps only the pink as a difficult potting option. Murphy goes for his own rest shot to the other corner pocket - he misses as well!

Well what fortune for Higgins now as he's teed himself up perfectly now.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 11-11 Murphy

Murphy lines up the pink - it sails clean into the right corner pocket and the Magician claims a wonderful 100th ton to applause. He misses the final red but returns to his chair with a smile and another frame in hand.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 11-10 Murphy (0-75)

Murphy is in his element, it's been all blacks apart from that early brown and one blue in the middle. He needs black and one red if he wants to force Higgins to snooker, and his positioning is absolutely textbook. Could he grab his 100th century here?

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 11-10 Murphy (0-13)

Murphy nails a long red off Higgins' break, then slots the brown into the left middle. He needs to pull the cue ball past the pack to get on the black, and it goes just as planned. Lovely stuff.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 11-10 Murphy

Oh dear. It's a good safety from Higgins to put the cue ball on the baulk cushion, and Murphy clips the blue! Five points mean three snookers and a big hill to climb for Murphy, but Higgins spares him the effort by slamming a red into the right corner and potting the pink for good measure. The Wizard of Wishaw is back in front!

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 10-10 Murphy (70-15)

Murphy gets tempted by a long red to the yellow pocket, he misses and now Higgins goes for his own attempt - it comes out the jaws. Safeties but no snookers just yet from either man.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 10-10 Murphy (70-15)

Never say never, Higgins misses his next long red and Murphy will try and craft the snooker he needs.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 10-10 Murphy (70-15)

Murphy gets a chance at this frame! Higgins misses a red to the right corner pocket and Murphy is up in a flash. The Scot hasn't managed to secure this frame and Murphy will do his utmost to surpass that.

His first big challenge is a red on the top rail, and oh it's just off! It stays in the jaws and Higgins will be delighted that it was a short visit from his opponent. Higgins needs the pink, gets it into the right middle and Murphy will now need a snooker to tie.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 10-10 Murphy (42-0)

Higgins is playing this slow and steady. Once again the pink is below the reds, and he'll go for a cannon off the black. He gets the pack and the pink still isn't quite free, but he seems happy with what he's got.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 10-10 Murphy (7-0)

Murphy gets us back underway, and Higgins responds with a safety.

Higgins gets a tricky little cut to the left middle to get into the scoring first. He doesn't quite manage to open up the reds off his pot on the blue, but he does have a shot on.

World Championship LIVE - Get in on the fun

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An hour without a pot: Re-live remarkable longest Crucible frame between Wu and Allen

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World Championship LIVE - What a battle!

It's essentially a race to seven frames now over tonight's remaining four frames and tomorrow's nine. Higgins has been the more error prone of this session so far as it took him a minute to warm up, but his quality shone when it mattered to rival Murphy's confidence.

'Made a lovely noise, so clean' - Murphy thunders in long red

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World Championship LIVE - Higgins 10-10 Murphy

Five reds left and Murphy only needs one more. It's a lovely shot up to the right middle and they will now be level once more. The Englishman has been flawless on this table despite the pink being tied up for the middle stretch, and he reaps the rewards as he confidently goes for a fantastic long shot on the pink up to the yellow pocket.

He nets 82 on this visit and it is all tied up as we go to the interval.

'Look at that, never touched the sides' - Murphy sinks stunning pink

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World Championship LIVE - Higgins 10-9 Murphy (0-42)

Murphy pots off Higgins's break-off. The pink ends up respot below the pack, but it hasn't seemed to hinder Murphy. He plays a wonderful plant and it looks smooth sailing for the Englishman.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 10-9 Murphy

Murphy leaves a line just open for Higgins to pot the long green, but chooses to go for the snooker on the brown. Murphy clears that easily, but when confronted with a second snooker - this time tucked right behind the black on it's spot - he fouls.

It goes back and this time Murphy finds the brown. There's very much a long pot open though, and Higgins won't turn that gift down. He gets himself on the pink and with that shot, he goes in front!

'Absolute granite' - Brilliant Higgins snooker helps secure 19th frame

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World Championship LIVE - Higgins 9-9 Murphy (44-54)

It's a stroke of luck for Higgins. Higgins misses the yellow, but manages to snooker Murphy. But in a stunning display, Murphy pings the cue ball off two cushions to cut it into the green pocket.

Nothing is ever certain in this game though, and Murphy misses the green straight after.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 9-9 Murphy (44-52)

What an error from Murphy! He catches the red thick on his safety and brings both off the rails. Higgins drops the red into the right middle, and then coaxes the brown into the green pocket to allow himself a shot on the final red at the baulk end. He needs the pink to win the frame.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 9-9 Murphy (34-52)

Once again we are down to three reds, and Higgins is just off on his attempt to the right middle. Murphy has a straight long red now and he nails it. The last two reds are both on the left cushion, and unfortunately, his cue ball ends up short of pace for a viable attempt. Back to safeties it is.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 9-9 Murphy (15-44)

Murphy gets the perfect cannon into the pink but he misses his shot on the black! Can Higgins manage to punish his mistake this time?

He pots the blue, and the gets the cue ball around the table back near the pink. He pots a red into the left middle, and sinks the black that Murphy left in the mouth of the corner pocket to open up his options again.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 9-9 Murphy (0-37)

Higgins gets the first chance but a miss means Murphy will be the one to pot first instead. He splits the pack nicely and he'll be off to the races now.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 9-9 Murphy

Three reds left and Higgins misses! Murphy needs three snookers and he steps up to continue the frame. It's not a great safety and Higgins sinks the long red to further sink Murphy's hopes. Higgins polishes off the reds with a lovely cut to the right middle. He sprawls onto the table to play a wonderfully thin yellow to start the clearance, and the Scot nails it.

This is the sixth equaliser so far in this match and they remain neck and neck!

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 8-9 Murphy (55-3)

It appears as through Higgins has shaken off his earlier errors as he ploughs on with the rest of the table. It's slow work with the black tied up but it's an admirable showing.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 8-9 Murphy (20-3)

Higgins doesn't end up on anything and opts for the safety. The cue ball ends up in baulk, and Murphy gets a chance to the yellow corner. It's quite a ways off though and Higgins will scoop that up.

The Scot lines up the yellow and pulls the cue ball down the table in hopes of lining up a red. There's one there, but Higgins doesn't seem to fancy it much. He sinks it anyway and gets a lucky kiss on the pink to knock it into a pottable angle.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 8-9 Murphy (7-3)

A poor safety from Murphy leaves a red open to the yellow corner, and Higgins will pot his second ball of the evening. He's on the blue as well, can he make up for the mistake that lost him the previous frame?

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 8-9 Murphy (0-3)

It's a mediocre break-off from Higgins as Murphy has a long red. The Englishman misses though, and Higgins will go for the safety after that.

Murphy puts a long pot into the right corner pocket and avoids dropping the cue ball into the middle. He sinks the yellow but he doesn't end up on anything easy after that. His attempt on a red to the left middle is off, and manages not to leave Higgins an easy pot.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 8-9 Murphy

This frame is all but won, the black is up at the baulk line but Murphy won't have any need of it. It was a big opportunity that Higgins squandered and Murphy will leave the black on the table as he takes the first frame of tonight's session.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 8-8 Murphy (1-60)

Oh dear. Higgins pots his first red easily, but he misses a straight black. Lucky days for Murphy as he gets back to the table perhaps a bit sooner than he might've thought.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 8-8 Murphy (0-60)

It's a lovely bit of ball control from Murphy, the red up the table means he recovers well from finishing below the blue. A few more reds left, half of them will go easily to the left but he needs to open up the others if he wants to keep the break going.

He won't have the chance to though as he misses his shot on the pink. It's not a frame-winner, and the table is open for Higgins to catch.

World Championship LIVE - Higgins 8-8 Murphy (0-22)

Higgins lines up a long red but it's off by a mile, he hits a different red to the one he wanted and leaves one in the mouth of the left corner pocket.

Murphy happily snaps it up and pots the blue for good measure. There's one red floating by the baulk line, and the pack is loosely gathered around the pink.

World Championship LIVE - Here we go

The players are finally out and after the handshake, Shaun Murphy gets us started with the break-off!

World Championship LIVE - How to be in on all the action

A reminder of the semi-final format: it's best-of-33 at this stage over four sessions with the matches concluding tomorrow May 2, and it promises to be a fierce fight across both duos.

You can watch every day of the World Snooker Championship 2026 live on TNT Sports.

Here is the TNT Sports schedule and TV guide.

World Championship LIVE - Just a mo

We'll be looking at a bit of a delay as the table is being turned over after a grueling and record-shattering frame of one hour and 40 minutes between Wu Yize and Mark Allen.

Play looks to resume for Higgins and Murphy in 18 minutes.

World Championship LIVE - What's at stake?

Both men could be going for history. For Higgins, it would be an extraordinary feat should he lift the trophy on Monday as the oldest world champion. (With the current record holder being Ronnie O'Sullivan at 46 with his 2022 win)

On the other side, Murphy chases the glory of being a multiple-time world champion, having last worn the crown over 20 years ago in 2005. He'll be only the tenth player to do so if he goes all the way this week.