World number one Mark Selby survived his third deciding frame of the week in Lommel after coming from 2-0 and 3-2 behind to beat Jack Lisowski in the last 16 of the European Masters.
Lisowski looked very good early on, winning the opener with the help of a 57 break before notching up a 127 total clearance to forge a 2-0 advantage and move halfway to beating the world champion. As always there was a big response from Selby, after Lisowski missed a black early in frame three, winning that frame in one visit with an 88, prior to squaring the contest at 2-2 thanks to a run of 73. Lisowski edged ahead once more by winning the fifth frame with a 58 break along the way, but a run of 71 from Selby forced the decider, despite the left-hander's attempts for snookers.
Both players had early chances in the decider but the frame was very much in the balance with a few reds left. Lisowski took on a risky thin red to the middle pocket though, and when this did not fall he left Selby an easy opening and he took full advantage. A closing break of 68 proved more than enough to put him into the quarter-finals.
In the last eight, Selby will take on Stuart Bingham as the 2015 world champion ended the hopes of home favourite Luca Brecel. Like Lisowski, Bingham quickly took a 2-0 lead in the match with breaks of 69 and 93 helping him to the opening two frames. Brecel hit back strongly though, while Bingham was slightly put off by a rogue photographer in the audience. The Belgian was quickly level with two one visit frames of his own, making a 93 in the third and 72 in the fourth to level the contest at 2-2. However, Bingham held firm by winning the fifth to re-take the lead and finished the match with a break of 69 to win 4-2.
Defending champion Judd Trump is also into the quarter-finals after defeating David Gilbert 4-2. Trump was always in front, leading 1-0 and 2-1 before finding himself level at 2-2 after Gilbert made a century break in the fourth to go with a break of 62 he made in the second frame. Trump went ahead again at 3-2 and closed out victory strongly with a stylish 75.
Trump will now face fellow left-hander Mark Allen after the Northern Irishman won the final three frames of his 4-2 victory against Ben Woollaston. Allen started as he meant to go on with a superb break of 110 to take the opener. Woollaston played some decent stuff to take the next two frames, and survived a barrage of good snooker attempts from Allen in the third frame to lead at 2-1. Both players had chances in the next couple of frames but it was Allen who won them both to force ahead at 3-2 and a swift break of 56 in the last aided him in getting over the line, and continuing his good run of form.
Another man who kept up his fantastic form at the start of this season was Mark Williams, who made his fourth ranking quarter-final in four ranking events played so far in this campaign. To do so he too won the final three frames of his match against Neil Robertson for a 4-2 win. In similar vein to Allen he won the opening frame, aided by a run of 56, before Robertson won the next two frames comfortably enough to move 2-1 in front. Williams dominated the fourth to level the match, but it looked like Robertson would move 3-2 in front when he led the fifth frame by 56 points. The Welshman had other ideas though as he cleared with 67 to steal the frame, and sensing his opportunity he quickly seized control in the sixth frame and clinched the match in style with a fantastic 102 to put himself into the last eight.
It was also a successful Thursday for the two remaining Chinese players in the draw coming into the day as both Cao Yupeng and Zhou Yuelong booked their places in the last eight. Cao was first up though he did not have things easy against tour rookie Billy Castle. After a couple of scrappy frames Castle led 2-0 and Cao was firmly on the ropes. The key frame looked to be the third as Cao took it on the black to avoid falling 3-0 adrift and on the verge of elimination. From there he clicked into gear with runs of 58 and a match high 77 to turn the match right around and lead 3-2. Castle controlled the sixth frame to hold on and force the deciding frame, but it was not to be as Cao won his second decider of the week in Lommel and confirmed a visit to the quarter-finals of a ranking event for the first time since the 2013 Wuxi Classic.
Things were much more clear cut for Zhou Yuelong as he ended the run of Peter Lines. Zhou had high breaks of 81 and a closing 112 to win the match 4-1, but Lines can be happy with a week that saw him beat Ryan Day and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh to make the last 16 (despite a high break of just 42 against Un-Nooh).
In the final match of the round, Anthony McGill came from 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2 behind to beat Mark Davis in a deciding frame. Both players seemed to be in good touch, with Davis making breaks of 71, 69 and 64 in the frames he won, while McGill hit back strongly with an 88 in frame four, before winning frame six in one visit too with an 81. The crucial break in the last of 60 from McGill put him within a ball of victory and Davis was not able to get back into the frame as the Scotsman closed out victory.
Quarter-Final Draw: (Picks in Bold)
Judd Trump Vs Mark Allen
Mark Williams Vs Cao Yupeng
Anthony McGill Vs Zhou Yuelong
Mark Selby Vs Stuart Bingham
Starting with the defending champion Trump's match with Allen, it is interesting to see that Allen has won his last four matches against Trump, three of which were over the best-of-7 frames format that this one will also be played over. Two of those matches were European Tour event finals which also adds something to the argument for Allen while his recent form has been strong too. He has a made a ton in each of his matches so far this week, two of which were 140+ breaks which shows his scoring is very strong, just as it was en route to the semi-finals of the World Open last time out. It certainly feels like Allen has more in the locker, while Trump has not necessarily been at his best so far this week.
The next match looks like a bit of a miss-match between Williams and Cao. For the Welshman he is in his fourth ranking quarter-final of the season, and he's only played in four ranking events so far. Meanwhile, for Cao he is in his first for four years though has been in decent form having gone a step further from an unfortunate last 16 exit in the World Open. Williams has been knocking on the door all season though and this may well be the week that he gets over the line and back into the ranking event winners circle.
Mark Selby has a good record against Stuart Bingham and has been playing really well in the last three rounds and has dug in hard against players that took the game to him and played just as well themselves. Bingham has had a couple of nice results this week which was much needed after a poorer stretch of form to start the season. He looks a lot stronger this week, but with Selby scoring heavily and taking his chances this week he is going to prove very difficult to beat, just as he has done already in Lommel.
Anthony McGill has been in good form of late, making the Indian Open final, and has been scoring well again this week, especially in his last two victories. Zhou Yuelong meanwhile is also playing decent stuff and always seems to be scoring well. However, this is his third ranking quarter-final and in the previous two he was defeated 5-0 in the Welsh Open by Scott Donaldson and 5-2 by Shaun Murphy in the China Championship so this is the next hurdle for him to get over. It is clearly a promising sign that he has made three quarter-finals in 2017 though, having not made one previously and I expect the 19-year-old to play well on this occasion. On the whole, I think McGill will probably have the edge tactically and if both players are scoring well that could be the key.
All four quarter-finals will be played on Friday, over the best-of-7 frames and all on the main TV table with two in the afternoon and two in the evening with the same session times as the rest of the week.
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