Paul Hunter opened a four-frame lead over Ireland's Ken Doherty at the end of the first session in their Embassy World Championship semi-final today.
Hunter, who knocked out defending champion Peter Ebdon to reach the last four, won the opening two frames of the match.
Dubliner Doherty's first success came in the third frame after knocking in a break of 67. But Hunter regained a two-frame advantage and went further ahead when Doherty missed a black off its spot.
A missed pink from the Englishman allowed Doherty to edge the sixth frame 70-62, but he lost the final two frames of the afternoon to trail 6-2.
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The best-of-33-frames match resumes tomorrow morning.
New world number one Mark Williams leads Stephen Lee 1-0 in the other semi-final.