Mark Williams came back from the brink of defeat in the last 16 of the China Open, as Mark Allen missed frame and match ball in the decider to clinch a quarter-final spot and his place at the Crucible.
Allen will now be made to sweat as either Tom Ford or Jack Lisowski could still overtake him if they were to win the tournament, though this would be a maiden ranking title for either player. Williams had led the match 3-0 at one stage but Allen fought back and levelled the match at 4-4. Williams did regain the lead at 5-4 but Allen forced the decider and looked like taking it when he was 62 points ahead in the final frame with just five reds remaining. His miss left Williams right in and the clearance of 67 was no problem for the Welshman.
Williams will now take on defending champion Mark Selby in the quarter-finals after the World Champion completed a comfortable win over Lu Haotian. Selby looks to be peaking just in time for his Crucible defence and he made high breaks of 77, 108 and 118 in defeating Lu 6-1.
Former champion Neil Robertson was also a 6-1 winner against Chinese opposition as he defeated Zhou Yuelong. Robertson opened up with a break of 110 and had further runs of 68, 72 and 74 while Zhou's only frame was secured with the highest break of the match - a 122.
While these two Chinese youngsters exited as did the Chinese number 1 Ding Junhui. For the second year in a row at the China Open Ding was defeated by Kyren Wilson, this time by a 6-5 scoreline. Ding had led 4-2 and lost the seventh frame despite a run of 69. Wilson then kicked on and took the next two as well to lead the match 5-4 with a high break of 111. Ding took the tenth on the colours and held a big lead in the decider but a clearance of 67 from Wilson put him over the line and into a quarter-final with Jack Lisowski.
Cao Yupeng could not keep the home flag flying either, despite at one stage leading Barry Hawkins 5-2 in their last 16 clash. Cao had breaks of 71, 80 and 85 and plenty of chances thereafter but could not get the job done as Hawkins fought back to take the match to the decider. Then a run of 71 from Hawkins, his highest of the match, was enough to put him over the line and complete a sensational win.
In the battle of the former world champions, Stuart Bingham continued his impressive head to head record with Graeme Dott with a 6-2 win that featured a high break of 105. Jack Lisowski defeated Gary Wilson by the same score, despite losing the first two frames, while Tom Ford was also a 6-2 winner against World Snooker Federation champion Luo Honghao.
Last 16 results:
Mark Selby 6-1 Lu Haotian
Mark Williams 6-5 Mark Allen
Jack Lisowski 6-2 Gary Wilson
Kyren Wilson 6-5 Ding Junhui
Neil Robertson 6-1 Zhou Yuelong
Stuart Bingham 6-2 Graeme Dott
Barry Hawkins 6-5 Cao Yupeng
Tom Ford 6-2 Luo Honghao
Quarter-Final draw: (Picks in bold)
Mark Selby Vs Mark Williams
Kyren Wilson Vs Jack Lisowski
Neil Robertson Vs Stuart Bingham
Barry Hawkins Vs Tom Ford
Mark Selby will face Mark Williams in the quarter-finals in what will be their fourth meeting of the season. Williams ran out victorious in the first round of the Masters 6-5 as well as in their last Chinese meeting at the Shanghai Masters. Prior to that though Selby overcame Williams on the way to winning the International Championship in November, for his fourth win in a row against the Welshman at that time. Both players are on fine form this week and Selby particularly is really starting to warm up nicely. If Selby does come through here you would fancy him heavily to go on and win the title as the format extends for the semi-finals and final, with his scoring looking strong. Given the strength of his safety game that is going to make him incredibly tough to beat in Beijing this week.
Jack Lisowski will be looking for his second Chinese semi-final of the season when he takes on Kyren Wilson. Lisowski has breezed into the last eight after a 6-1 win over Anthony Hamilton and 6-2 wins over John Higgins and Gary Wilson. Lisowski has also beaten Wilson earlier on this season in the German Masters qualifiers and has won four of their five previous meetings overall. Wilson has had to fight hard this week, coming from 3-0 down against Andrew Higginson before tight wins against Mark King and Ding Junhui and he will have another big fight on against Lisowski.
Stuart Bingham and Neil Robertson is another tight looking match up between two top players. They met recently in the first round of the Romanian Masters and Bingham came out on top there 4-3 and overall he has a far superior record against the Australian. Bingham has looked in good form this week despite having to come through deciders against Matthew Stevens and Ricky Walden, a match in which he made a 147. Then today he came through comfortably against Graeme Dott. Robertson has also had to fight, coming from 4-1 down in the last 32 against Sam Craigie. Today though he was also a comfortable winner and if he is on top form this could be a match that goes all 11 frames. However, given the head to head record Bingham may have a slight psychological edge coming into the match.
Finally, Barry Hawkins will face Tom Ford. The pair met recently in the last 64 of the Welsh Open, with Hawkins winning 4-0 on the way to making the final in Cardiff. Over a longer format, Hawkins was also a convincing winner when he met Ford in the first round of last year's World Championship as he dismantled Ford 10-3. This week, Ford has overcome Yuan Sijun and Luo Honghao by 6-2 scorelines, as well as defeating Elliot Slessor 6-4 in the last 32. Hawkins meanwhile was 6-3 winner against Sam Baird before thrashing Michael White and then coming back from the brink against Cao Yupeng. On paper, and with the head to head, Hawkins should be a big favourite here but there is no reason why this could not be a long awaited big breakthrough week for Ford.
The quarter-finals are again played over the best-of-11 frames as the tournament goes down to two tables, with places in the big best-of-19 frame semi-finals at stake. There's also another big jump in the money with all the quarter-finalists currently guaranteed £27,000, while the four winners would then be assured of £45,000 for making the semi-finals. Either way, there are four exciting matches to look forward to on Friday.
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