Haikou World Open Day 4

Marco Fu is through to the Quarter-Finals after a gripping
win over Neil Robertson. Image: World Snooker

Marco Fu secured his spot in the quarter-finals of the Haikou World Open in dramatic re-spotted black frame win in a decider as he overcame world number one Neil Robertson. It was a high quality game of snooker with breaks of 121 and 127 from Fu and a 127 from Robertson, his 92 century this season, seeing the scores locked at 2-2 at the break. Fu added the next two with runs of 52 and 114 but Robbo nicked the next two to force the decider. A poor safety from Robbo left the re-spotted black close to a pocket and Fu sank it to secure the match.

There were more dramatic scenes in the evening season as John Higgins battled back from 4-0 down to beat Judd Trump 5-4. The game resembled that of the International Championship final between the two in 2012, when Higgins hit back from 7-2 down to beat Trump 9-8. After scraping past Matthew Stevens yesterday, Trump played a whole lot better in the opening stages of this last 16 match, with breaks of 63, 68, 100 and 110 putting him 4-0 up at the break. However, the match completely turned at the interval and Higgins began to apply the pressure with runs of 104, 89 and 90 pulling him back to 4-3. He then forced a decider with a 124 break before securing the match with a top run of 63 in the decider.

Shaun Murphy is also through to the last eight in Haikou, but he too needed a decider to overcome Ding Junhui. Murphy led 3-1 at the break but Ding brought himself back into contention with runs of 92 and 76 at 3-3. The next two frames were shared but a top run of 45 in the ninth helped Murphy to victory.

Murphy faces Graeme Dott in the quarters tomorrow after he ended Thepchaiya Un-Nooh’s impressive run with a 5-2 win. Un Nooh looked set to hit a 147 maximum in the third frame but missed a tricky pink close to the side rail and never recovered from there as Dott won the next four for victory.

Mark Selby was also in free scoring form as he fired in breaks of 135 and 131 in the final two frames as he beat Liang Wenbo 5-1. Next up for Selby is Alan McManus who saw off Dominic Dale 5-1, thanks to a top break of 101.

Mark Joyce continued his excellent run in the tournament as he knocked out Kurt Maflin 5-3, with top breaks of 59 and 57. Joyce, who’s only other Quarter-Final ranking event appearance came in the 2010
UK Championship, will face Fu in the quarters. Mark Allen was today’s other winner as the defending champion set up a last eight match with Higgins, after he beat Ricky Walden 5-2.