Higgins surges ahead in world final

By Nick Johnson

SHEFFIELD, England (Reuters) - Scotland's John Higgins surged into an 11-5 lead over Englishman Shaun Murphy in the snooker world championship final on Sunday.

Higgins won the opening three frames of the match but Murphy reeled off four frames in a row to edge 4-3 ahead.

Higgins, who won the title in 1998 and 2007, responded by taking the last frame of the session to level the scores.

When play resumed, the 33-year-old Higgins was in commanding form against the 2005 champion. He won seven out of the eight frames to go six ahead, finishing with a century break.

The best-of-35-frame final at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre finishes on Monday.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)