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Mark Allen just edged a hard-fought opening session on Sunday to claim a 5-4 lead over Fan Zhengyi.

Fan, 24, has had a mixed season so far but is a former European Masters winner, although this is only his second appearance at the Crucible, where he is yet to win a match.

Northern Ireland's Allen needs to win the World Championship to complete snooker's Triple Crown, but has found it tough going when he gets to Sheffield, reaching the semi-finals in 2009 and 2023.

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Ding Junhui has largely carried China's hopes since first appearing at the Crucible 18 years ago and he became the first Asian player to reach a World Championship final in 2016, when he lost 18-14 to Mark Selby.

But he has gone out in the first round in each of the four previous years and will face an opponent that is enjoying the best season of his career.

Zak Surety notably reached the last four of the recent World Open and after beating Ricky Walden and Jack Lisowski in qualifying will be looking forward to his Crucible bow.

Almost time for play to resume this afternoon...

John Parrott
1991 world champion on BBC Two

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Typical Higgins. It is like the old Batman episodes you used to see where he was in a perilous situation and all of a sudden he gets out of it.

He has extricated himself from more perilous situations than Batman. He always gets out of it.

And John Higgins will be only 5-4 down when play resumes at 19:00 BST.

World number three and four-time Crucible champion Higgins takes the final frame of the opening session against Joe O'Connor.

Stephen Hendry
Seven-time world champion on BBC Two

John Higgins will be delighted to get out of here at 5-4. He has not played well and been totally outscored. It would be an amazing result to be only one frame down.

Stephen Hendry
Seven-time world champion on BBC Two

Even though Joe O'Connor has played really well, he is sat in his chair and he'll have seen enough of John Higgins down the years to know he can make a frame-winning break just when he needs to.

A valuable contribution, this time a break of 85, ensures Joe O'Connor will be in front when these two players resume at 19:00 BST.

That's three frames in a row now for the world number 30 from Leicester.

One more frame to go in this first session.

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Joe O'Connor gets 12 reds and 12 blacks in to his maximum attempt, but lands awkwardly on the 13th red.

Bridging over the blue with the spider, he can't sink the red.

So no 147 - but O'Connor leads in the match for the first time.

Eight reds, eight blacks to start the seventh frame.

The remaining reds aren't placed too badly either... a chance of a maximum for Joe O'Connor?

The pattern continues.

Every time John Higgins has taken a one-frame lead in this first-round match, Joe O'Connor has responded immediately to level it up.

A break of exactly 100 - the first century of the match - brings this one all square again.

Frame five, the first one after the mid-session interval, is another lengthy contest and John Higgins gets the better of it.

There are still four more frames scheduled to be played in this session, but there is a fair chance they may not get that full allocation in as the afternoon's play is due to start at 14:30 BST and there is a cut-off point before any new frames can begin.

The match will be concluded from 19:00 BST.

A break of 86 brings Joe O'Connor back level once more and ensures his first four frames with John Higgins are shared.

Interval time.

Image source, PA Media

Zhao Xintong gets the job done at the first opportunity after the mid-session interval, knocking in a break of 87 to complete a 10-4 win over 16th seed Jak Jones.

Both finalists from last year, Jones and defending champion Kyren Wilson, have gone out in the first round this time around.

Lei Peifan, the man who beat Wilson on Saturday, will be Zhao's opponent in the last 16.

Earlier (see 11:13 BST entry) I showed you what the table looked like in frame three and, unsurprisingly, it ended up being a low-scoring frame.

It went all the way to the black to decide it - and Joe O'Connor goes in-off when playing a safety, giving John Higgins a 2-1 lead.

Zhao Xintong had to weather an early Jak Jones flurry but is into his stride again now and he is one frame away from the second round as the players exit for their mid-session interval.

Zhao Xintong puts the disappointment of that missed brown in the previous frame behind him to take frame 12 and move within two frames of a place in the second round.

There, Lei Peifan - who knocked out defending champion Kyren Wilson on Saturday - awaits the winner.

Fair to say that things have got pretty awkward in the third frame between John Higgins and Joe O'Connor, with all 13 of the remaining reds at the baulk end of the table.

What a reprieve for Jak Jones, who has taken the first two frames this morning to now be only three behind Zhao Xintong.

Jones was 70 points up and Zhao needed a snooker - which he then got - and the Chinese player looked for all the world as if he would clear the table to win the frame, only to miss a relatively simple brown.

That gifts Jones the chance to wrap up frame 11.

Joe O'Connor makes an instant reply with a break of 79 to level the match against John Higgins.