In the meantime, though, we’ve got plenty for you to enjoy…

… but do join me again at 7pm BST for the staggering denouement. No one has a clue what’s going to happen, but we can all relax into the absolute certainty that something will. See you soon!

Shaun Murphy 12-12 Wu Yize (5-86) Wu has played lovelily these last three frames, the long-potting which is so good it feels like cheating, returning after a brief holiday. He is five frames away form a first world title, and supplanting Shaun as the second-youngest man to win this competition.

Shaun Murphy 12-12 Wu Yize (5-61) Not on the blue as desired, Wu thrums it home … and lands on nowt. So, with 56 the lead, he sits down, 67 points left on the table … but is soon up again, an infelicitous kiss offering him a simple starter, and he’s going back in front, his stones asserting themselves to provide a platform for his genius.

Shaun Murphy 12-12 Wu Yize (5-35) A cut-back red off the top rail … takes Wu on to the blue, just, and he’s nicely grooved now, the lead his for the taking. He’s done brilliantly after losing four frames in a row, then another after regrouping at the interval, the gamut of emotions assaulting him exhausting even to contemplate.

Shaun Murphy 12-12 Wu Yize (5-8) We love the snook – the pursuit of sticking balls into bags – but what makes is special is the way it examines character, its players’ fears laid out for all to see. Wu has a look at a long one to right corner, considers whether he can afford to take it on given what he’ll leave if he misses … and flows a work of art into right corner. oh, and he also lands the white on the pink with, had he missed, every red safe. Brilliant shot, and I wonder how it must’ve felt the day he realised he could play like that; play like no one has ever played before.

Shaun Murphy 12-12 Wu Yize What a session this has been. Wu is now playing better than Shaun did while winning its first five frames, and I’ve not a clue what’s going to happen next,

Shaun Murphy 12-11 Wu Yize (1-59) The human brain is such a funny thing; Wu wasn’t nervous playing the final frame last evening, but was at the start today; this afternoon, nothing happened to get him going, but somehow he found a way. We’re going back level with one to come in the session, but whoever takes it, tonight is going to be spectacular.

Shaun Murphy 12-11 Wu Yize (1-44) At the start of this match, my sense was that it’d go deep, and that remains the case now … though Wu doesn’t quite sink a skinny one to left corner. So Shaun tidies, but he can’t land on a colour then, a few shots later, Wu decides he’s going at a long one … landing a banger. That’s why he’s the world’s best from distance, something that won’t be lost on El Mago, and The Geezer is back in business. “Wuuuuuuuuuuuuu!” as crowds will surely soon be chanting.

Shaun Murphy 12-11 Wu Yize (0-23) A delicious cut from middle to left corner gets Wu away again – finally, he’s relaxing into the session, his second red also excellent, the ball moving from right side to the same bag. His body language is much better now, his face no longer eating itself with anxiety, but he soon falls millimetres short of position, not quite bouncing enough off the top cushion, so again, it’s back to baulk.

Shaun Murphy 12-11 Wu Yize (0-12) Wu essays a longun; is he back in business? He is not, unable to force it down … but nor can Shaun, missing to corner before a kiss off the brown almost pots it into the yellow bag. Safety follows, the Wu goes at a long diag … clunking home a jazzer into the pocket, gorgeous shot. Has he found himself in the nick of time? Er no: he misjudges a stun run-through, cannoning a red he hoped to come around the back of, but the safety he finds next is pretty decent.

Shaun Murphy 12-11 Wu Yize Finally, Wu is into the sesh and, whatever happens from here, he’ll be in the match come the evening dig. But he’ll want more…

Shaun Murphy 12-10 Wu Yize (0-79) Frame secure, Wu sets about clearing the table. Generally speaking, that doesn’t affect much, but here, my sense is he needs to sit down having potted everything, reminding himself of his own genius. He’s hitting his shots with much greater authority here, is The Geezer, and it’s beautiful to behold.

Shaun Murphy 12-10 Wu Yize (0-71) Leading by 64 with 67 left, Wu leaves himself a cut to left corner … which he caresses home nicely. It’s morning in Sheffield!

Shaun Murphy 12-10 Wu Yize (0-58) A dreadful misjudgment from Shaun hands Wu a chance, he gets away and a nice nudge off the pink opens everything. This really should be his first frame of the day – if it isn’t, you’ll really fear for him – but he knows that any miss and he leaves the world. This is the biggest visit of the tournament so far, and my heart is doing grime x jungle.

Shaun Murphy 12-10 Wu Yize (0-29) Needing to attack the pack, a prod with the rest leaves Wu the wrong side of the blue, so he takes the yellow, but without applying the power necessary to take him even to the cushion, never mind the cluster. So it’s a safety and back to baulk, sitting down having not missed an easy ball progress of sorts, with his lead worth having but a long way away from definitive.

Shaun Murphy 12-10 Wu Yize (0-26) All it’ll take to get Wu back going is one decent visit and, when Shaun misses the second of two long pots, he has a chance. So he goes hard at a diag to right corner, sinking it nicely, and even one frame won this afternoon will have him in contention tonight. But that’s a long way away, the stock of loose reds soon to run out.

Shaun Murphy 12-10 Wu Yize Shaun almost went out in round one, but he’s now a mere six frames from kissing the Silver Lady.

Shaun Murphy 11-10 Wu Yize (41-29) When Shaun came to the table, every ball went, but he’s clearing them away with zest and precision … then, as I type, a black wobbles on the edge of right corner … and drops. Wu will be feeling extremely nauseous and with good reason; this is going to be five out of five for The Magician.

Shaun Murphy 11-10 Wu Yize (22-37) A black off its spot … is missed. Oh my days, Wu is quietly imploding in front of our eyes here, and it’s not easy to watch. If Shaun were to win all four remaining frames this afternoon, the contest would feel over, but 3-1 would leave us at 14-11, just about retrievable with some of the pressure off.

Shaun Murphy 11-10 Wu Yize (7-29) Wu looks to cut one ball off another and into corner, but he doesn’t get close, allowing Shaun in; with pink and black tied up, he’ll need to use the blue … and he misses the first one! So, how is Wu feeling? Well, with that blue now on the side, he must get on to the black, stuck on its own cushion, because he can’t compile meaningfully with baulk colours. And he works his way on to it, a fortuitous kiss off a red bringing him into prime position, making this is now the most important visit of the match; can he handle knowing that?

“The Geezer will have been ‘desperate for the mid-session interval’,” says Simon McMahon. “God, I love that phrase.”

There’s something so conforming and reassuring about the sounds and rhythms of televised snook. I guess part of it is that they’ve not changed since my childhood, the refuge from boredom offered by wall-to-wall coverage – especially in the 80s when we only had four channels and I was an only child –which converted into the refuge they offered from exam": “Come on, one more frame then we’ll revise…”

Shaun Murphy 11-10 Wu Yize (6-0) Oh dear: another long pot, another long pot missed, and Wu just can’t do without the otherworldly skill that gets him in among the balls. He leaves a starter to middle, too, but Shaun – who, though he won four frames of four before the break, isn’t playing at close to his best – can’t take much advantage, soon running out of position so playing safe.

Our gladiators are back, and off we go again. Wu will have looked deep into his soul during the interval; what did he find there?

Watching Wu, it’s hard not to think back to being 22 and how little I knew then – without the aggravating factors of talent and pressure. I’m not surprised he’s struggling to manage his emotions, but I know he has the minerals to get hold of them; you don’t get to where he is, from where he started, without serious mental strength. The question is whether he’s quite learned how to tap into it.

Goodness me, what a session we’ve got coming up. If Wu doesn’t improve, he might be nearly out of things at the end of it but, if he does, we could be set for one of the great evening digs.

We’ll be back in 15, Shaun having swept the mini-sesh; the worry for Wu is that he’s may well play even better now he has the lead.

Shaun Murphy 11-10 Wu Yize A tremendous final red allows Shaun to clear the table, an emphatic statement of superiority. You feel for Wu, who looks lonely sat at the side with just his thoughts and failings to company; in comms, they think he needs the practice table, but if i was him, I’d go for a shower and a change of clothes; he needs to make things feel different.

Shaun Murphy 10-10 Wu Yize (87-2) With one snooker required, Shaun runs out of position, but he’s soon back at the table potting, the frame – and lead – his. He’ll have known of Wu’s perviousness to pressure and, though he might’ve expected it to take effect a little later in the contest, he’ll be primed to exploit the situation.

Shaun Murphy 10-10 Wu Yize (59-2) When Shaun got in, it looked likely he’d secure the frame at this visit and he’s making very sure to do everything possible – there’s a calm authority in the way he’s pacing about the table, a little slower than usual. I hope Wu has someone in his corner with whom he can converse frankly, because there are few better front-runners than El Mago, who has several levels still to find.

Shaun Murphy 10-10 Wu Yize (13-2) Another long ball, another miss from Wu, and when Shaun cuts into the same green bag, he has at his mercy a table with ready points available. This mini-session could not have gone worse for Wu, who’s had an absolute shocker; how does he get himself going for the second half of the afternoon, knowing a choke is in progress?

Shaun Murphy 10-10 Wu Yize (6-1) Wu clunks home starter but doesn’t do anything worthwhile with the white, forced to go off the side to hit the pink and needing two attempts to do it. Shaun hasn’t played great in this session, but he’s winning frames because his opponent just can’t get anything going.

Shaun Murphy 10-10 Wu Yize Shaun levels the match and it’s now a race to eight.

Shaun Murphy 9-10 Wu Yize (62-13) Shaun secures the frame and with it, parity.

Shaun Murphy 9-10 Wu Yize (32-13) Shaun continues building, opening the pack nicely, off the brown, his confidence presumably rising in inverse proportion to Wu’s. OIsaid at the start of this match that I’m not sure the younger man is quite ready to win this tournament, and what we’ve seen so far this afternoon supports that.

Shaun Murphy 9-10 Wu Yize (20-13) Yup, Wu misses yet again – a much easier ball this time – playing like he’s not slept all night worrying about today, and Shaun will be able to smell it. He sinks a starter, tidies some loose balls, and if his spit works well, he’ll surely level us up.

Shaun Murphy 9-10 Wu Yize (10-13) There we go! Wu crunches a jazzer to corner, adds the blue, then, a few shots later, tickles in a pressure-cut with the rest. All that does, though, is bring him on to a nasty black not dissimilar to the one Shaun missed in today’s opening frame, but a bit harder … and he too fails to see it away. He’ll be relieved that there aren’t many reds available but of course, that state of affairs won’t necessarily sustain … oh, and an undercut ball to left corner ends the break almost before it’s started … but Wu can’t get away to middle, both men struggling for their best form,

Shaun Murphy 9-10 Wu Yize (2-0) I mentioned yesterday that Wu has joined Mark J Williams as my favourite player, but I can’t help but be pleased he’s lost a couple of frames, because more than anything I want to enjoy a classic. I am, though, concerned when he botches another longun; Shaun punches into the pack, potting a red into right corner and right-middle but, on nowt, we’re immediately back playing safety.

Shaun Murphy 9-10 Wu Yize A run of 76 and this is getting serious.

Shaun Murphy 8-10 Wu Yize (66-9) Shaun secures the frame to go within one, but he’ll be eyeing a mini-session sweep; he can’t be wining two, then losing two.

Shaun Murphy 8-10 Wu Yize (51-9) Shaun quickly turns a chance into a chance to win the frame, and this is the start he wanted. He’ll soon be within a frame, upping the pressure on Wu yet further.

Shaun Murphy 8-10 Wu Yize (13-9) Two more long pots missed when, last evening, Wu was so good it was hard to process and, eventually, he leaves a plant for Shaun, who has the bit between his teeth now, setting about accumulating. But, more importantly, I’ve just realised who he looks like: Abobo from Double Dragon II on the Game Boy.

Shaun Murphy 8-10 Wu Yize (0-5) How’re your nerves? Wu’s dangled another longun and this time … he spanks it home. But he soon loses the white, hanging in the break for one more shot before sneaking back to baulk, disappointed.

Shaun Murphy 8-10 Wu Yize Shaun looked by far the more relaxed man in that frame, and I’d expect him to put Wu under further pressure at the first available opportunity.

Shaun Murphy 7-10 Wu Yize (96-37) I wonder if, in that last exchange, Shaun saw a route to victory: as we saw yesterday, Wu isn’t great as escaping snookers, so I’d expect him to be put in more. Meantime, Il Mago sinks the final read, clears the table, and that’s a frame back.

Shaun Murphy 7-10 Wu Yize (72-37) Shaun leaves a snick to left corner but wu’s radar isn’t booted up yet; it’s the fourth such shot he’s missed in the frame, all of them by a way – though he gets second prize of a fluked snooker. The escape, though, is straightforward and, on his next visit, Shaun can go at a long one … which he drains nicely, before tucking in behind the brown. And, with the final red defended by blue and black, if Wu misses he’s almost certain to leave a free ball … but he hits the big dog, so it’s seven away and back in … to sneak through a tiny gap, great work. This frame is on a rolling boil now, the youngster botching yet another long pot – one you really expect him to take – punished with a snooker behind the pink, close to the side, with the red down the rail. Wu will need to deploy the swerve here, but he doesn’t get anywhere near with his first two goes, seeking to come off the bottom cushion, so he tries the side and hits the blue. The penalty points are piling up here, another miss takes Wu to within a foul of needing all the balls to tie … and it duly arrives, leaving a free ball. Shaun, though, refuses it, Wu finally hits, and the frame is almost over, the lead 35 with 35 left.

Shaun Murphy 7-10 Wu Yize (39-37) Shaun gets a red off the side then goes to remove another off the blue, but misses it by a way; end of break. So he sends a ball down the table, using the black to block off the white, and Wu’ll have to go some to hit either target, never mind get it safe; he plays it well, and this frame is maturing into a crucial battle of wits and skill.

Shaun Murphy 7-10 Wu Yize (10-37) That second chance Shaun spurned looked a goodun at the time and, as Wu works his way through the loose balls, he’ll be feeling extremely peaky. All the more so when a split looks to go badly, but in fact offers a jab, bridging awkwardly, to middle … and it’s there. The blue, though, needing cut to the green bag, isn’t easy, and you can see from contact that he’s overcut it, so Shaun returns to what is now a taxing table, well aware that he must find a way of winning this frame.

Shaun Murphy 7-10 Wu Yize (2-14) Tantalised with a longun, Wu refuses it – not words often typed – and I doubt they’ll be typed again anytime soon, given a poor safety that allows Shaun in for a starter … and no mo. But another error offers him further opportunity … and he overcuts his first black, catching the top rail before the pocket and stopping out accordingly. That could be a very big miss given the match-state, because there are plenty of points available and with them a four-frame lead.

“No idea about nicknames,” says Simon McMahon – yesterday, we were trying to find one for Wu – “but Shaun ‘The Magician’ Murphy must be thinking ‘Oh Mr Wu, what shall I do..?’”

I was musing on this this morning – do I prefer Wu “The Surgeon” Yize or Wu “The Scalpel” Yize? – and then it hit me: it can surely only be Wu “The Geezer” Yize.

A handshake, Shaun to break, and off he goes.

Here comes Wu, the applause no doubt for Rob Walker as much as for him. And now it’s Shaun’s go; he waves and rotates at the top of his mark, then goes again on the plinth. He absolutely loves it.

Rob Walker is talking to himself; I’m certain we’ve noticed him, but he’s still going.

So what’s going to happen today? Well, the power is with Wu, whose long-potting might just be the best we’ve ever seen. Zhao Xintong mid-rangers wowed us last year, brilliant once you’re in, but the deadliness from range makes him a brutal proposition because almost nothing can ever be safe.

And that is what’s foxing Shaun, who usually has the advantage in that area; so far, he’s not found an antidote that enables him to do his thing while keeping his opponent out. I’m sure Peter Ebdon will have shared some thoughts on the matter but, more or less he needs to play lights-out to win from here – though there’s a strong chance that, if he nears the finish line, Wu gets nervous, because he’s got form.

During Wu’s marathon frame with Mark Allen, my pal Jaron came up with a solution: if there’s that kind of stalemate, you re-rack, but only the balls remaining, keeping the scores as the are. To me, that’s foolproof, but if we’re missing something, let us know.