Image source, World Snooker

Can't imagine that John Higgins will be taking Yan Bingtao lightly this evening.

A 5-3 lead is more than retrievable and the Chinese debutant has made a habit of coming back throughout the tournament.

Higgins also got a taste of just how good his opponent is back in 2015, when at 15 Yan and Zhou Yuelong, thrashed Higgins and Stephen Maguire to win the World Cup.

The Scots had beaten China's A team in the quarter-finals but lost out 4-1 to the hosts' B side, who secured the £120,000 top prize in Wuxi.

Chinese debutant Yan Bingtao was in fine form in his 6-5 semi-final win over defending champion Stuart Bingham.

Just watch some of these cracking shots.

Now before the action gets going I just thought this might help get everyone in the mood...

Image source, World Snooker

Good evening and welcome back to our live coverage from the final of the Masters.

Two-time champion John Higgins was not at his best earlier but still leads Yan Bingtao 5-3 as we go into the deciding session of snooker.

There were plenty of twists and turns earlier, which is probably a nice way of saying there were a number of mistakes from both players.

Still it made for great drama. Hoping we get more of that tonight, minus a few errors.

Right that is me done, well for now anyway.

What a session of snooker that was. Looked like both players had the jitters at times but to be expected I suppose when one is a debutant and the other has not won a Triple Crown event for a decade.

Still, John Higgins probably just about edged that and takes a very useful 5-3 lead into the evening session.

Feel free to read our report on the final and I'll see you back here around 18:50 GMT.

Thanks for joining me.

Steve Davis
Six-time world champion on BBC Two

John Higgins has been helped by Yan Bingtao. He has been as naïve in this session as he has over the whole tournament. He let John get back to the table too easily.

He needs to come out, have a flying start and get his tail up.

Stephen Hendry
Seven-time world champion on BBC Two

A 5-3 lead means that Yan Bingtao is now chasing, you don't want that at the start of the second session.

Blimey. Yan can't finish it off and Higgins comes out on top in a battle on the green to tidy up. Wow.

NO.

That's one of those misses that you'd have never seen from Higgins 10-15 years back. A red into the middle which jumps out due to the pace on the cue ball.

In response Yan snicks in red and then puts Higgins in all sorts of bother behind the brown on the baulk cushion.

Higgins manages to find a red which is completely hidden by brown and pink but leaves the red right over the middle.

Over the years John Higgins has been particularly adept at winning frames that he should not win. Can he do it again?

Good stuff from the world number 11 as he reaches 36. But has Yan let it slip here? A plant into the bottom right means a difficult green, which he can't pot, is his only option.

Higgins is up and ready to go. What a steal this would be.

John Parrott
1991 world champion on BBC Two

Yan is now officially the best player in the world after that shot.

The balls are not in particularly good shape here and Yan isn't doing too badly. He plays a superb black in with hampered cueing.

Oh this looks awkward...

Higgins is up near the baulk cushion and can't get a red next to the yellow safe, leaving it over the middle. Yan's in and then gets a rub of the green to land on the black.

Now then, where's this going....4-4?

Cagey start to this one as you might expect. Big frame this.

Stephen Hendry
Seven-time world champion on BBC Two

We talked about if Yan can switch on form like a light but he has great temperament, he was struggling at 4-2 behind but the break showed really character.

When you have an opponent who you think you are in against, then he comes back, you don't know how he is feeling in his chair.

Steve Davis
Six-time world champion on BBC Two

Yan surprised me in that frame. If he misses the yellow we all would have said he was gone. As it turns out he looks the real deal again.

If Yan keeps going here he can't quite reach a century but this is some response.

In goes the brown, blue and pink. Now for the black. It's a 97 and the frame.

This is bubbling up nicely.

John Parrott
1991 world champion on BBC Two

This is excellent stuff so far from Yan. It will be his highest break since the opening session.

Yan reaches 50 and with a flourish playing a great little shot to nudge the red on the cushion out into play.