STEPHEN Maguire opened up a 5-3 lead over John Higgins in the first session of their all-Scottish final at the Wyldecrest Park Homes Welsh Open this afternoon.
Maguire, who edged out Mark Selby 6-5 in yesterday's semi-final, displayed sparkling break-building skills throughout and always held the upper hand.
World number one Higgins, who beat Ali Carter 6-2 in in their semi, dug in well to keep himself in the match ahead of this evening's final session at the Newport Centre (7pm).
A 59 helped Maguire take the opener and the second followed a similar pattern, a 53 taking him to the brink before he eventually wrapped the frame up.
A clearance of 120 in frame three got Higgins on the board but Maguire responded with 89 before what was, incredibly, his only missed pot before the mid-session interval.
Maguire led 58-4 in the first frame back and looked set to open up a commanding 4-1 lead, but a superb clearance of 68 got Higgins back into the match.
The breaks kept on coming from Maguire, though, a 76 moving him 4-2 ahead before he took a scrappy seventh frame to ensure he would take a lead into the evening session.
Higgins kept that margin to two frames, however, as a break of 70 clinched the final frame of the afternoon.
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