Australian Goldfields Open (Day 4)

Marco Fu is through to the last eight after beating Shaun
Murphy 5-2. Image: World Snooker/Tai Chengzhe

Barry Hawkins’ defence of the Goldfields Open is over after he was beaten after a final frame decider against Tom Ford. The Hawk win the opener with a run of 67 but Ford responded to win a lengthy second before a run of 89 put him 2-1 up. Hawkins then hit runs of 78 and 87 to re-take the lead but the match swayed again as Ford won the next two to go within a frame of victory. Hawkins was not yet buried and forced a decider with a run of 74 but Ford prevailed in the nervy final frame, eventually taking victory on the last pink.

There was another upset in the second match on table one as Marco Fu defeated the world number four Shaun Murphy. Fu is known for his hugely inconsistent form and responded after struggling badly in Wuxi and won five frames on the bounce to come back from 2-0 down. The man from Hong Kong hit top breaks of 80, 61, 70 and 115 on his way to victory and will face Dominic Dale in the quarter finals.

Joe Perry’s astounding run of form continued as he downed 2011 Goldfields Open champion Stuart Bingham 5-3. Perry won the Yixing Open back in July and also took the prestigious Pink Ribbon pro-am event at the South West Snooker Academy following the Wuxi Classic. Bingham did win the opening two frames with top runs of 56 and 53 but Perry won the next three with top breaks of 72 and 50. Bingham stopped the rot with a run of 70 in the next but Perry sealed the win by winning the next two.

Another in-form man, Robert Milkins, is within a chance of taking his first ranking event victory this week as he booked a spot in the quarter-finals after beating Rory McLeod 5-2. He raced to a 4-0 interval lead with runs of 87, 50, 75 and 123 before the break. McLeod responded in style, making a tournament high break of 137 in the next before a break of 52 made it 4-2. However Milkins, who is now provisionally 13^th in the rankings, scooped the victory by winning frame seven.

Mark Selby will be looking to kick-start his season after a disappointing start and is also through to the quarters after swiftly beating Zhang Anda 5-1. Runs of 69, 71, 76 and 90 put him 4-0 up at the interval. Zhang replied with an 87 in the fifth but Selby sealed the win by taking frame six.

He’ll face Mark Davis after the Hastings man defeated Alfie Burden 5-3. Davis was 3-1 ahead at the interval after hitting top runs of 83 and 82 and won the fifth with an 85. London’s Burden won the next two with runs of 50 and 51 but Davis took the eighth 64-28.