Shangahi Masters Day 4

Mark Davis beat John Higgins again to make it through to the
Quarter-finals. Image: World Snooker

Kyren Wilson’s terrific run in the Shanghai Masters continued on Thursday as he secured a quarter-final spot after beating Marco Fu 5-3. Despite losing the opener, the Kettering man took the next three with top breaks of 65 and 133, the tournament’s highest break, to lead 3-1. Fu managed to fight back to 3-3 with breaks of 71 and 98 but the world number 100 kept his nerve to finish off the job by taking the next two.

He’ll face Michael Holt in the last eight as the Nottingham man came through an exciting final frame decider to beat Martin Gould. Holt played the better in the early stages and led 3-1 at the interval but an inspired Gould fought back with runs of 55, 109 and 127 to go 4-3 up. However Holt snatched the eighth and took the match with the final blue and pink, after Gould had missed the blue.

Mark Davis’ excellent run of form continued as he recorded yet another win over John Higgins. The pair have met five times in major ranking events, with Davis winning their last three encounters, here, at the Worlds and UK, both last season. Davis dominated early on and took the first three although Higgins cut the deficit thanks to a 55 break in frame four. But davis continued with his destructive streak and took the match by winning the next two frames.

The Hastings man will face Xiao Guodong in the next round as he defeated Peter Lines 5-3. Leeds’ Lines played well early on and was 3-1 up at the break but Xiao, who is close to overtaking Liang Wenbo as China’s second best player, dominated after the interval, taking four frames in a row for the victory.

Home hero Ding Junhui is through to the quarters after a dramatic win over Shaun Murphy which went the distance. After sharing the first four frames, Ding edged ahead for the first time in the match with an 84 break in the fifth. Murphy replied with a 102 in the next but Ding re-took the lead in a closely-fought frame seven. A break of 84 from Murphy forced a decider but Ding dominated it to book a spot in the last eight.

There was another evening match that went all the way, as Mark Selby edged out Robert Milkins. The pair shared the first four frames, with Selby making top breaks of 80 and 107 whilst Milkins hit a 66 in the third. The Milkman then went within a frame of victory by winning the next two but an excellent fight back from Selby saw him win the last three, the decider on the final black.

He’ll meet Barry Hawkins tomorrow after he confidently saw off Ryan Day 5-2. Hawkins began the match impeccably and quickly raced to a 4-0 lead, with runs of 91, 59 and 93. Welshman Day stopped the onslaught by taking the next two but it was all in vain as Hawkins sealed the match by winning frame seven.

Finally, world number one Neil Robertson quietly continues his pursuit of a third consecutive title in China with a 5-3 victory over Mark King. After sharing the first four closely-fought frames, Robbo edged ahead with an 82 break in the fifth. King levelled again with the next but Robertson sealed the match by winning the next two.