Mark Selby and Ding Junhui had comfortable victories in todays last 16 games against Jimmy White and John Higgins, while Neil Robertson had to come through another decider, this time against Yu De Lu, despite still suffering from illness out in Beijing.
Shaun Murphy was probably the biggest casualty of the day losing to one of his good friends Ricky Walden 5-3, while China Open specialist Peter Ebdon's campaign was brought to an end by Ali Carter and Mike Dunn managed another crucial win for his tour survival hopes against Craig Steadman.
Last 16 results:
Neil Robertson 5-4 Yu De Lu
Graeme Dott 5-2 Luca Brecel
Ricky Walden 5-3 Shaun Murphy
Ali Carter 5-3 Peter Ebdon
Ding Junhui 5-2 John Higgins
Mark King 5-3 Jamie O'Neill
Mike Dunn 5-3 Craig Steadman
Mark Selby 5-1 Jimmy White
Quarter-final Preview: (Picks in bold)
Neil Robertson Vs Graeme Dott - Neil Robertson has been battling superbly this week clearly suffering badly from illness throughout the week, and having to come through 3 deciding frames is some feat when you're not 100% fit and healthy. However, he does seem to have oddly improved within his game from match to match, despite his still obvious struggles. As for Graeme, he's not been quite at his best this week either, struggling through some matches that have been much easier on paper than tomorrow's against Neil Robertson will be, and you feel that Dott may well have his work cut out for him here, but I still expect it to be a very close match.
Ricky Walden Vs Ali Carter - Neither of these 2 players seem to have been at their best this week, with Walden only beating Murphy 5-3 despite Murphy being off colour and making a high break of just 47. Walden hasn't been at his best for some time in fact, just being able to scrap through matches against poor or out of form players. Carter hasn't been much better this week, and with only a high break of 59 all week to boast this could well be a very close match defined on the tactical battles. If so you'd have to say that Carter is a much better tactical player (as he displayed in his 2012 Crucible run) than Walden and I fancy Ali just to edge it.
Ding Junhui Vs Mark King - Ding looked to rediscover his spark today against Higgins after a couple of indifferent weeks on the table, and that could just be at the right time with the Crucible in his sights. If he can carry on going this week it would be a nice warm up for the biggest tournament of them all, and if he's at his best for the remainder of the week, I'm not sure anyone will be able to stand in the way of his 5th ranking title of the season. However, Mark King has had another good week on the table and will certainly give Ding Junhui a challenge tomorrow, but I'm not sure how much of a challenge he can offer to the Chinaman if he's on top form.
Mark Selby Vs Mike Dunn - Firstly, well done to Mike Dunn for reaching the quarter-finals of this event knowing that he had to have a very good run this week to have any chance of retaining his tour spot for next year. His tactic of staying in China after the World Open has really paid off for him, and that could be something some players will look at more in the future. However, this match against Mark Selby could well be a step too far for Mike. Selby seemed to throw in one of his better performances today against Jimmy White and if he does that again tomorrow against Mike, I doubt that he will have much answer despite the superb week that he has had.
It is a brilliant line-up though for the quarter-finals with all of the top 3 players in the world left battling out for the title, we will certainly see some good snooker between now and the conclusion of the event on Sunday.
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