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!
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