John Higgins v Mark Allen LIVE: World Snooker Championship scores and latest updates

Here are the upcoming matches at the Crucible over the next few days as the quarter-finals begin tomorrow morning:

Monday 29 April – second round

John Higgins 7-9 Mark Allen

Jack Lisowski 7-9 Stuart Bingham

Tuesday 30 April – quarter-finals

David Gilbert v Stephen Maguire

Kyren Wilson v John Higgins/Mark Allen

Jack Lisowski/Stuart Bingham v Ronnie O’Sullivan

David Gilbert v Stephen Maguire

Wednesday 1 May – quarter-finals

Kyren Wilson v John Higgins/Mark Allen

David Gilbert v Stephen Maguire

Jack Lisowski/Stuart Bingham v Ronnie O’Sullivan

Kyren Wilson v John Higgins/Mark Allen

Jack Lisowski/Stuart Bingham v Ronnie O’Sullivan

Kyren Wilson stormed into the second round with a 13-6 victory over Joe O’Connor.

Wilson took a 10-6 lead into the final session of his second-round match and won a scrappy first frame to move within two of the quarter-finals.

Another long frame followed as O’Connor looked to peg his opponent back but there was nothing he could do to stop Wilson from going 12-6 in front. And Wilson got over the line in the next frame to clinch a comfortable win.

Ronnie O’Sullivan hailed the impact intermittent fasting has had on his energy levels during this year’s World Snooker Championship after seeing off Ryan Day to reach the quarter-finals.

The 48-year-old, who is bidding to secure a record eighth Crucible crown, eased his way into the last eight after winning three of the four frames on Monday afternoon to wrap up a 13-7 victory against Welshman Day.

O’Sullivan revealed the challenge of negotiating a 17-day marathon in Sheffield is being made easier by intermittent fasting, with the Englishman going around 16 hours without food before breaking his fast in a bid to boost his energy.

He said: “I just do what’s right for me. It’s not like I sit down with someone and work out what’s right, what’s wrong and how to peak. A lot of people think I do. What I do is I try to eat right. I’m intermittent fasting for this tournament because it gives me more energy.

“There’s certain things I do and it doesn’t necessarily mean I’m going to win, I just need every little advantage I can get at this stage. This is a tournament of endurance, stamina and concentration. For me, intermittent fasting just gives me a bit more energy.

“Once the tournament’s over, I’ll be back to eating 24 hours a day. There’s times when you have to work out what’s right for you. I go a certain period of time where I won’t eat and it’s just amazing the energy you get from it. I’ve always found it works really well for me.”

Welcome back to our live coverage of the World Snooker Championship, and an intriguing evening at the Crucible Theatre ahead.

The 2015 world champion Stuart Bingham returns to the table leading Jack Lisowski by two frames, while in our featured match this evening, Mark Allen has the same advantage over four-time champion John Higgins.

We’ll have all the action from tonight’s session as John Higgins takes on Mark Allen and Jack Lisowski battles Stuart Bingham. We’ll be back just before the session kicks off at 7pm.

There are two more matches taking place this eveing with Mark Allen taking on John Higgins and Jack Lisowski facing Stuart Bingham.

Both games will be played to a finish in a best of 23 contest. Here’s how things currently stand:

(4) Mark Allen 9-7 (13) John Higgins

Jack Lisowski 7-9 Stuart Bingham

“Therein lies the problem for long-term in a sport which drives you around the bend because the balls don’t move, you have to decide when to move them.

“I’m not saying other sports aren’t hard, but the still-ball games that include anything where you have to make the movement – they’re really tough.

“It’s a lovely life, but it shows how you can play with your brain.

“From the outside, we see no difference in his technique or cue action whatsoever. It may not be actually anything, it’s just having an enthusiastic mindset. What you’ve got with Ronnie is somebody trying to correct, trying to upgrade, trying to improve. Those are positive signs.”

“He seems enthusiastic about the game, he’s working with a new coach and working on new things.

“I can’t spot a lot different in what he’s doing, but he’s working on something and that can give you enthusiasm to want to play, if you work on new things and you see it come to fruition.

“Maybe that’s given him a buzz a little bit. At the end of the day it’s about enjoying it, sometimes you don’t enjoy it here, sometimes you just play the matches and it’s not fun.”

Ronnie O’Sullivan speaking to BBC Two: “I’ve been used to it [expectation] since I was a kid, since I was 10 really – everyone expecting that I would win every tournament that I turned up to play.

“I’ve grown up with that as I’ve played so I’ve been conditioned to dealing with that sort of pressure. So that doesn’t bother me, it’s more the pressure I put on myself, knowing what I’m capable of and when I don’t produce it, when I find this game hard, my life gets a bit harder. When I find this game easy and it comes good, life becomes a pleasant place again.

“I’ve tried to disassociate myself from it, it’s not easy. I just have to try to minimise the bad performances or the bad feeling out there. It’s all about looking forward to the next one. Enjoyment is number one.”

More from Ronnie O’Sullivan: “I’ve had such a long time in the doldrums, two years I’ve not really mentioned anything but it’s been really challenging, I’ve even had to take medicine for the anxiety, even in small tournaments and even when I’m not playing.

“That’s how bad the game can make me feel at times. I didn’t want to do that any more and I’ve just had a bit of excitement the last few weeks, feeling like I can get through the ball a bit better, but then you come crashing down to earth – I was out there last night and it was starting to wander a bit.

“So it’s like can we fix it? Can we get back on track? And there were some good bits out there today so I’m getting a little bit more optimism and belief that I can sustain it.

“It’s no good doing it for one match or the odd tournament, you’ve got to try to be able to sustain it for a few months, even a year. I played great for three years once, never had a bad day, so it can happen, you just have to get everything right.”