• Welshman takes last three frames to build 10-7 overnight lead • Higgins had won four out of five frames to draw level at 7-7

The Class of 92 revival has not disappointed as John Higgins and Mark Williams head into the second day of the World Championship final at the Crucible with three frames between them.

Williams leads Higgins 10-7 in a contest between two men who first played each other in the 1994 Thailand Open. Williams dominated play in the opening and closing stages while Higgins fought his way into contention in the middle with the biggest scores of the day. Sharing a combined age higher than that of any previous final, either Williams, 43, or the 42-year-old Higgins is about to become the oldest world champion since Ray Reardon, at 45, in 1978. So far the match has been a good advert for middle-aged sport.

At 2.15 on Sunday morning Williams had been tweeting from a kebab shop, fuelling up after his semi-final with Barry Hawkins had run on past midnight. Higgins had long been tucked up in bed after holding off the challenge of Kyren Wilson. But the doner must have done its job; Williams won the first four frames at a canter.

Apparently thoroughly relaxed in his first Crucible final since 2003, Williams reacted to his early lead by eating wine gums provided by the crowd. Higgins immediately faced an intimidating challenge. No one had overcome a four-frame deficit in the final since Ronnie O’Sullivan fought back from 5-0 down against Graeme Dott in 2004. A 20-minute interval allowed Higgins to gather himself and the Scot won the fifth frame with a break of 119, his eighth ton of the Championship.

Not to be outdone, Williams bounced back with a chunky break of his own, 95, to take the sixth frame and a 5-1 lead. But with both players now in some kind of touch Higgins started to make it a proper contest. He quickly took the seventh frame and, when Williams saw a red bounce out of the middle pocket in the eighth, Higgins placed the penultimate red into the opposite pocket with a double. He went on to win 82-21.

Williams began the evening session by restoring his three-frame lead. But once more Higgins found another gear. The four-times champion won four of the next five frames, racking up two more centuries in the process. Frames 13 and 14 were practically faultless from the Scot. Now it was Williams playing accidental double kisses and rattling reds around the corner cushion.

With three frames remaining the score was suddenly even and the pressure on Williams. But he, too, found the necessary response, scoring his first ton of the day as he swept the 15th frame 127-0. Higgins overpowered a black in the 16th to let the Welshman clear the table with a victorious 64. The final frame was tightly contested and looked to be heading to Higgins until the Scot fouled by pocketing a brown with only one red remaining. Williams went on to win 80-43.