Master Murphy fights back to beat Allen

Shaun Murphy was one of the four winners this afternoon at the Tempodrome in Berlin as the line-up for this evenings quarter-finals was completed. He had led Mark Allen 3-0 in the early stages before Mark Allen won the next four to go 4-3 up, and he then left Shaun needing snookers in the eighth if he had any chance of avoiding defeat. He got the snooker though and made a very cool 27 clearance including one of the best shots of the week from pink to black forcing a decider which he then won to take the match 5-4. Things were much simpler for his next opponent Ronnie O'Sullivan who ran away with things this afternoon against Joe Perry to whitewash him 5-0, while Ryan Day beat Alfie Burden 5-2 and will now meet Liang Wenbo who came from 4-3 down himself to beat Stuart Bingham.

Today's Last 16 Results:

Ryan Day 5-2 Alfie Burden
Liang Wenbo 5-4 Stuart Bingham
Shaun Murphy 5-4 Mark Allen
Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-0 Joe Perry

That means we have an absolutely cracking line-up tonight for the quarter-finals of the German Masters with all of the Masters champion, UK Champion and World Champion left in amongst the UK runner-up, Masters runner-up, Former German Masters finalist and semi-finalist all in the mix.

Quarter Final Preview: (Picks in Bold)

Ryan Day Vs Liang Wenbo - This match is a huge one for both players as there is an opportunity for them to make a charge up the rankings by getting into the semi-finals and of course both players are well in the top 32 with the next target being getting back into the top 16. Ryan has played well this week in beating both Ding and Alfie Burden while Liang has had to battle a lot more at times in his matches against Hang and Bingham, though they have both still been incredibly impressive. Ryan though has been getting to the latter stages of ranking events more recently than Liang who has been struggling quite a bit in the lead up to this tournament. In fact it was Day of course that made the semi-finals here last year so he knows how it feels to play in these big games at this venue and reach the one table set-up and the quarter-final he won to get there was very similar on paper to the one he faces tonight.

Ronnie O'Sullivan Vs Shaun Murphy - It's a case of UK Champion against Masters champion in what will be the match tonight on the TV table as O'Sullivan takes on Shaun Murphy. Murphy doesn't have a good record against O'Sullivan, though there aren't more than a couple of players in the world that do. However, Murphy's confidence will be high after hanging on in there by his finger tips this afternoon to beat Mark Allen and after his Masters triumph last month he has continued to score well this week in Berlin. Although, it may be in the back of Murphy's mind that the last time the pair met he was dispatched at this stage in the World Championships 13-3 having led 2-0 in the opening session and that would've been a very sour defeat. The Rocket looks in stunning form this week only dropping the first frame against Mark Davis (which was to a 110 break from Mark) and has won his next 10 frames since in very determined style, scoring brilliantly as always and playing as well as he has done all season so far, which says a large amount as well. It's going to be tough for Shaun and I can really only see it going one way.

Neil Robertson Vs Stephen Maguire - Neil Robertson again has looked in very determined mood this week, not dropping a frame at the venue to get this stage, and he's scored well, but also been very professional in all departments of his game to not give his opponents a sniff, and that is something you would think he could do very effectively tonight against Stephen. On the other hand, Stephen's confidence is high from his return to form and on his night he can comfortably score as well as Neil and knock in as many long balls as his Australian opponent so this should be a very tight affair. The difference will be that I think Robertson can just keep things that bit tighter than Maguire and that the chances Stephen will get will have a bit of added pressure on them.

Mark Selby Vs Judd Trump - This again looks like being an absolutely cracking match between two players at the very top of the game. So far this week Mark has had to come through two very long games against Anthony McGill and Peter Ebdon, still suffering from jet lag from his trip to China, while Judd Trump has had two quick 5-0 and 5-1 wins that have used up very little energy, and on top of that Judd also came into the week fresh and raring to go. Trump is back to his very best in terms of scoring, and he's not going to be far away tonight in the safety stakes either, despite Selby being one of the best in the world. The difference is that when Mark isn't quite on his game his scoring goes astray and he has to try and grind his opponents out which can work with Trump. When Judd is on top form though he is still very cool and calm, will score well and is a little more mature now to fall into traps that players like Neil Robertson have set up in the past to try and grind out the result.

It should be a great conclusion to the week now in Berlin as things really hot up on the table, even if he conditions outside of the arena are freezing cold. I'll be back late on tonight after the quarter-finals to preview the semi-finals as we get down to the one table set-up from tomorrow afternoon.