Image source, PA Media

With some excellent cueing Mark Allen manufactures what looked a difficult table into a break of 35. However, after a plant into the corner pocket he attempts to cut a thin black, but it lingers between the jaws of the pocket.

Wu Yize rises from his seat, but can only kick off a safety exchange in response.

John Parrott
1991 world champion on BBC Two

It's safe to say Mark Allen is in the zone at the moment. This is an incredible start to a break.

Wu Yize pots an early red but after a safety exchange he leaves a red over the middle which Mark Allen crunches in.

The blue is off its spot so he slams a much trickier black into the bottom-left corner.

It's an awkward pack, though, so he is going to have to continue his excellent cue-ball control.

Kyren Wilson
2024 World Championship winner on BBC Two

When he ups his pace and plays more fluenty Mark Allen he score like nobody else. He's a good cue-ball control player. He has turned this match around in his favour and can go on to win this tournament.

A brief query raised by Mark Allen delays the start of the 14th frame.

He's seemingly unhappy with some lights which he thinks have been switched on. However, the referee politely informs him they've been on for the duration.

Allen smirks, shrugs his shoulders then breaks.

Steve Davis
Six-time world champion on BBC Two

Mark Allen has obviously got momentum here, he's sort of unpicked his opponent.

If the match had been carried on last night from 6-2, for another eight frames, who knows what the score would've been to Wu Yize, because he was absolutely flying.

But it's a match over three days, four sessions, and it's the player who plays best over the course - not just in the moment.

Stephen Hendry
Seven-time world champion on BBC Two

Mark Allen needed four or five chances to win the opening frame of the afternoon but, since then, he's put on a masterclass in every department of the game.

He's been brilliant.

Mark Allen oozing class at the Crucible.

He snaffles the first frame after the mid-session interval with a superb clearance and a break of 121 to zip.

That red gives Mark Allen the impetus to go on and take the frame.

The only question is by how many. Allen polishes off the reds and sets to work on the colours, which are all spotted.

A century break beckons.

Steve Sutcliffe
BBC Sport at the Crucible Theatre

Wu Yize and Mark Allen are bidding to become the 34th player to contest a world final at the Crucible.

John Higgins, who is locked at 8-8 against Shaun Murphy had already contested two finals in Sheffield before Wu was even born on 14 October 2003.

And Higgins and Murphy's first ever competitive meeting was also five days before his birth.

Mark Allen, hair cut short like Ewan McGregor in Trainspotting, looks supremely focused as walks round the table.

He fiddles with the button of his waistcoast as he weighs up his next move after a slightly awkward position with the cue ball in among the remaining reds.

Allen considers a plant and a long red, before deftly guiding a red into the left-middle pocket with a hint of side. It takes the Northern Irishman's break to 55.

Superb from Mark Allen as he starts to eye a meaningful break.

With no obvious pot he doubles a red cut loose from the base of the pack into the middle pocket then sinks the black off its spot.

Allen then fastidiously starts to pick off a few more reds. A break of 29 and rising.

Stephen Hendry
Seven-time world champion on BBC Two

Wu Yize will never have felt anything like this in his career - the intensity of pressure on him.

He needs to get a frame on the board badly.

Right, Wu Yize breaks after the mid-session interval, leaving the cue ball six inches from the green at the top of the cushion.

Mark Allen responds with a safety shot, which leaves the white to the left of the pack, before Wu goes back up the table - leaving his opponent with possible red into the middle pocket.

Allen duly cuts it in to get off the mark but, with no colours on, plays a safety off the brown back up the table.

Steve Davis
Six-time world champion on BBC Two

These next four frames are massive.

I'm sure at some stage Wu Yize is going to start the engines again but he has lost all of his initiative, all of his advantage and a couple of his shots - if he had them again, I'm sure he wouldn't miss them.

Kyren Wilson
2024 World Championship winner on BBC Two

The first two frames were very scrappy and you were thinking it was going to follow suit after that, but no - Mark Allen potted a long red and made a 145 break.

Mark's very experienced and knows you're not going to play perfect snooker all the time. Sometimes you just need to play the right shots at the right time.

Wu will have never experienced having the crowd completely on Mark's side because they want to see a close match. It's something that will be new but it's something he's going to have to learn to deal with and quickly.

Mark Allen takes that gift presented to him by Wu Yize and seals his fourth frame in a row.

Who predicted that one prior to today's session getting under way?

'The Pistol' could have kept playing all night on that form while Wu looked absolutely desperate for the break, as highlighted when he quickly conceded that frame at the end.

Finely poised to say the least ahead of play resuming in the next 15 minutes or so.

John Parrott
1991 world champion on BBC Two

This has been an absolutely outstanding session from Mark Allen. Pretty textbook all round snooker.

Incredible.

Wu Yize has gone and done the exact same thing. Black to the bottom left pocket once again but it's eaten up by the jaws and spat back out.

Mark Allen looked disheartened after his miss but he's been gifted another opportunity here.

You feel Wu needs the interval. It's the first time the 22-year-old has really shown any sign of nerves in these past few frames.