Mark Allen one frame away from reaching World Snooker Championship quarter-final

Allen, 5-3 ahead overnight, won seven of the eight frames and requires one more frame on Saturday morning to progress.

Bingham prevented his opponent from winning with a session to spare by compiling a century in frame 16, but he still trails 12-4.

Elsewhere, Ronnie O’Sullivan shrugged off an extraordinary act of self-sabotage by opponent Hossein Vafaei to deliver a potential knockout blow in the opening session of their so-called grudge match at the World Snooker Championship.

O’Sullivan racked up his 200th Crucible century as part of a ruthless riposte to Vafaei’s pre-match barbs, while the Iranian did himself no favours by smashing the balls from his first break-off in an ill-judged reaction to perceived disrespect shown to him by O’Sullivan performing the same shot in their last meeting two years ago.

Vafaei’s blast cued up O’Sullivan to mop up with a break of 78 and the defending champion went on to fashion a 6-2 overnight advantage in their second-round clash, leaving him an opportunity to wrap up victory with a session to spare when they resume on Saturday afternoon.

The Iranian was accused of “stupidity” and “disrespecting the sport” by a shocked Steve Davis in the BBC studio, while another former world champion, Shaun Murphy, labelled Vafaei’s antics “an embarrassment” and “completely self-inflicted”.

Furthermore, three-time champion Mark Williams was knocked out by Luca Brecel as the Belgian edged to a 13-11 win.

The pair were tied 4-4 after the opening session, and despite Williams opening the first two frames of the second session, Brecel would win five on the trot to go 9-7 ahead.

The final session would see Williams go from 11-8 down to tie at 11-11 but world number 10 Brecel would win the last two frames to reach the quarter-final for the very first time.

Williams became the the third former world champion to bow out inside the tournament’s first week, following Judd Trump and Shaun Murphy.

Australian Neil Robertson could be the next high profile exit from the Crucible as he trails debutant Jak Jones.

Jones, who upset two-time finalist Ali Carter 10-6 in the opening round, won five frames in succession in the second session and holds a 10-6 lead against the 2010 champion.