China's Lyu keeps pressure on sixth seed Hawkins at snooker worlds

SHEFFIELD, England, April 27 (Xinhua) -- China's Lyu Haotian narrowed the gap to two frames after the second session against former finalist Barry Hawkins at the second round of the World Snooker Championship here on Friday.

Lyu, who fought back from 4-0 down to trail 5-3 after the first session on Thursday, made another thrilling comeback after losing the first three frames and managed to stay in the competition with 9-7.

The eight frames of the second session were evenly shared, leaving 2013 Crucible runner-up Hawkins with a two frame cushion. They return to the baize on Saturday at 10am with first to 13 to go through to the quarterfinals.

Hawkins extended his lead to 8-3 after reeling off the first three frames with breaks of 124, 83 and 61. The 20-year-old Lyu, who beat Marco Fu in the first round on his Crucible debut, battled back to take four in a row, knocking in runs of 125, 72, 79 and 60.

The last frame of the afternoon was the scrappiest of the session with both players missing chances. World number 68 Lyu got the snooker he needed on the yellow, but Hawkins then potted yellow and green to ensure an overnight lead. Enditem