Ding Junhui took a narrow 5-3 lead over Mark Selby in the first session of the Welsh Open final in Newport.
China's Ding, playing his first ranking final of the year, won three frames in a row either side of the mid-session interval to lead 4-2.
But Selby, who had hit breaks of 103 and 124 to take an early 2-1 lead, stayed in contention with a 66 in the seventh frame.
Ding needs four frames in the evening session to win the best-of-17 final.
Selby, the winner of the tournament in 2008, could have gone 3-1 up at the mid-session break after Ding missed a pink.
The Leicester player sunk the pink but missed the black and had to watch as his opponent squeezed in a difficult shot to take the frame.
The match resumes at 1900 GMT.
【体坛快讯】北京时间2月20日,2017年斯诺克威尔士赛决赛在纽波特举行,丁俊晖轰出两杆破百,总比分9-6力克马克·塞尔比,首次获得威尔士赛冠军,也是其排名赛的第五冠。
在威尔士公开赛夺冠的历程中,丁俊晖一路过关斩将,4-0零封马克·戴维斯,通过决胜局连斩希金斯和斯蒂芬·李,6-2痛击墨菲,到决赛力克世界排名第一的塞尔比,赢下冠军。一路连胜五场,面对墨菲的完美取胜再加上决赛面对塞尔比时攻防全面的淡定表现,铸就了丁俊晖排名赛第五冠的辉煌。恭喜丁俊晖!
上一篇: 林书豪率队力擒小牛 扎克伯格现场助威
Expats seek to beat smog with technology
Man offers $130m to gay daughter's suitor
Suspect claims he killed 40 as hitman for drug cartel
Dalian building underwater traffic tunnel
Super Bowl braces for big chill on Feb 2
Bigger Chinese role sought in the Arctic
Curlers challenging pudgy stereotype
Liaison mechanism to be set up across Straits
Nationwide good Samaritan law needed
Xi set for trip to Sochi Games
NYPD disbands Muslim-tracking unit amid concerns
Hollande admits problems in personal life
US secretly fed political satire to Cuba in social media
Giving birth overseas a fast growing industry
Prince's star rises amid scandals
Apology letter showed goodwill toward China
Coach profits drive up in China
Winter storm cripples US Atlantic coast
Foreign demand for goods adds to air blight
British PM warns of worsening floods
Joint operation ensnares poachers
Crucial Snowden questions loom large over Pulitzers
Fired professor rejects claim he broke nation's one-child rule
Emotional Rodman apologizes on return from DPRK
William and Kate a smash at New Zealand cricket match
Weather authorities want to see holiday ban on fireworks
New lunar rover unveiled at Chongqing tech fair
Male stewards a welcome sight for rail travelers
Shrinking of wetlands spurs call for regulation
Vietnamese get first taste of McDonald's fast food