Two-time world champion John Higgins and Jamie Cope are locked at eight frames apiece in their second-round tussle at the Crucible.
World number five still unable to shake off youngster Cope
Two-time world champion John Higgins and Jamie Cope are locked at eight frames apiece in their second-round tussle at the Crucible.
The afternoon had seen Stephen Maguire and Mark King slug out the longest frame the venue has ever seen, one which lasted for one hour, 14 minutes and 58 seconds.
But the 1998 and 2007 champion shared eight superb frames in the space of two thrilling hours to revive the tournament following defending champion Ronnie O'Sullivan's exit.
Each player made two centuries, with Scottish potter Higgins compiling breaks of 128 and 113, and Cope responding with 102 and 118.
Only the seventh of the session did not feature a break of above 50 and even then, Higgins won it swiftly with two 30-plus contributions.
Epic
It was a welcome performance from the pair in the second session of their match, particularly after King and Maguire had earlier surpassed the previous record for slow play at the Crucible set by Peter Ebdon and Graeme Dott in the 2006 final by 50 seconds.
The pair became bogged down in safety play on the green ball in the second frame before Maguire finally potted the black to win it 70-56.
Title favourite Maguire had lost the first frame but, after levelling up, took less than 18 minutes to grab the third frame following a break of 59, however, he was struggling to dominate King and the duo finished tied at four apiece.
While Maguire rarely looked like a champion-in-waiting, the 2007 runner-up Mark Selby provided more persuasive evidence of his credentials to succeed O'Sullivan.
Selby claimed four frames in a row after the mid-session interval to move 6-2 ahead against Dott.
He had been tied at 2-2 with the 2006 champion but fired in breaks of 72, 52 and 104 to gain control.
Australia's Neil Robertson leads last year's runner-up Ali Carter 9-7, meanwhile.
Robertson cleared up from the final red to haul back a 56-27 deficit in the last and put himself four frames away from a quarter-final spot.
