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O'Sullivan in command against Murphy

Ronnie O'Sullivan trailed 2-0 at the beginning of the match © Getty Images

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Ronnie O'Sullivan is in command of his quarter-final against Shaun Murphy at the World Championship as the defending champion leads 6-2 after the first session at the Crucible.

'The Rocket' trailed 2-0 but reeled off six successive frames to lead by four frames heading into the second session on Wednesday morning.

Murphy raced into a 2-0 lead with breaks of 103 and 65, but O'Sullivan won the following two frames to make it 2-2 at the mid-session interval.

O'Sullivan went 3-2 in front with runs of 42 and 72 and took frame six on the final pink and black after Murphy missed his attempt at the pink to level.

Murphy's mistakes were punished as O'Sullivan ended the session by rattling in breaks of 94 and 136.

Former finalist Judd Trump leads world No.1 Neil Robertson 6-2.

Trump showed flashes of the form which took him all the way to the 2011 final by going 5-1 up on the Australian, making breaks of 63, 107 and 60. Robertson made it 5-2 but Trump rattled in another century, completing the session in style with a 117.

Mark Selby will return for his final session against Alan McManus requiring just one frame to reach the semi-finals for the first time since 2010 after going 12-4 up on the Scot.

Holding a 4-3 lead from the first session, Selby dominated the second as he made breaks of 86, 87, 109 and 74.

Last year's runner-up Barry Hawkins leads Dominic Dale 11-5.

Hawkins, who recently won the PTC Grand Finals in Preston, took the opening session 6-2 with breaks of 68, 63, 78, 81 and 134.

A 69 enabled Dale to make it 6-3, but Hawkins won three frames in a row with a top run of 92 to pull away at 9-3. Dale won frame 13 to ensure there would be a third session but Hawkins ended the night with a 67 to hold a healthy lead over the Welshman.

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