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Mark Allen helped himself to a sweet from a spectator as he pulled clear of Kyren Wilson at the Crucible. The man who had been gnawing at the tip of his cue the previous evening found himself on the receiving end of some bite from the former World No.1.

Allen has nudged himself into a 9-7 lead heading into the decisive final session of their World Championship clash on Saturday morning, following yet another dramatic twist in their enthralling contest. The Northern Irishman initially tore chunks out of Wilson as he swept the first five frames of Thursday evening's play.

However, having claimed the last three to claw his way back into the match, the 2024 champion then took the opening three frames of Friday's second session to lead the tie for the very first time. At that point, the momentum appeared to be with Wilson, but Allen showed his trademark tenacity and dug in to wrest back control.

Allen claimed four of the last five frames during a crucial Friday afternoon run to re-establish his advantage ahead of Saturday's showdown. There was a memorable moment following a superb 140 break to clinch the 15th frame, when the Antrim ace strolled back to his chair and gratefully accepted a handful of sweets offered by a member of the crowd.

Allen savoured the treat, washed down with his customary cup of warm water, after it had been Wilson's turn to do the biting the night before. He has been wrestling with cue tip problems at the Crucible and admitted earlier in the week that he "hated" his cue. Wilson prodded it into the floor before cheekily pretending he was about to take a bite out of it.

Snooker pundit Dominic Dale is hopeful he can resolve the issue. He said: "I can't help but wait for the season to finish for Kyren so that he can sort out the problems.

"He'd love to bite that tip off, but I'm sure it's the cue and the tip, a combination of both. I don't think he likes either."

Following his first-round victory against Stan Moody, Wilson said: "It's awful, just fighting with it, it's not right, it's never going to be right.

"It's the position I'm in, it's the World Championship, so I'll still give it my all. I can win with it, I've won the Masters, but I don't think I'll ever hit the potential that I'm capable of with it."

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