Luca Brecel is into his first ranking event quarter-final for 16 months after he defeated Hossein Vafei 6-0 in the last 16 of the China Open.
Brecel's previous ranking event quarter-final came way back in the Shanghai Masters of November 2017 but any signs of nerves about getting back to that stage again did not surface on this occasion as he thrashed Hossein in another dominant display.
Also dominating proceedings today was Neil Robertson as the Australian kept up his fine form with a 6-0 whitewash of China's Lu Ning on a day when all four remaining Chinese players exited the competition.
Lu was not without his chances in the match but he missed too many key balls to leave Robertson in and given how he has been playing of late, the Australian needed no encouragement to take full advantage. A high break of 100 in the second frame was the highlight on the day for the tournament favourite.
Robertson will now play Sam Craigie who continued his fine week with a 6-2 defeat of Liang Wenbo. Craigie had already beaten Ryan Day 6-1 and Ali Carter 6-4, but by adding victory over Liang he is through to his first ever ranking event quarter-final and has secured by far his biggest career pay day, having guaranteed himself £27,000. On the day, Craigie delivered high breaks of 116 and 107 as his excellent week continued.
The excellent week continued also for Stuart Bingham who is through to yet another ranking event quarter-final after thrashing Rod Lawler 6-1. Lawler had beaten Kyren Wilson 6-4 in the previous round but never threatened to produce another upset against a player at the top of his game. The highlight for Bingham was back to back tons of 100 and 103 either side of the interval as he took the game away from Lawler at 4-1. Those centuries took his tally for the week to six and after his maximum break against Peter Ebdon he continues to hold the week's high break prize.
The fourth and final remaining top 16 player in Jack Lisowski fought back from 4-2 down to secure his place in the last eight and a match-up with Bingham as he defeated Li Hang 6-4. Li made a high break of 111 in frame four as he moved ahead early on but missed opportunities later on in the match as Lisowski clawed his way back into the match. Even tip trouble at the end of frame eight, which Lisowski won on the final black, was not enough to put him off and he would go on to win the match on the black in frame ten after Li missed it from distance.
Ben Woollaston also came from 4-2 down to deliver a 6-4 win against Lu Haotian. Woollaston had actually taken an early 2-0 advantage in the match before Lu won four frames on the bounce, but the crucial frame seemed to be frame seven as Lu missed the opportunity to clear and extend his lead to three, with Woollaston ultimately winning the frame on the black to get back in it at 3-4. In the end Woollaston would close out victory in style with a break of 119 and has now ensured his biggest pay day since reaching the 2015 Welsh Open final.
Another player securing a comeback and a career big pay day was Scott Donaldson as he came back from 3-1 down to defeat Ricky Walden in a deciding frame. Despite falling behind early on in the match, Donaldson was soon dominating proceedings as he made three centuries in four frames. Starting off with a 105 break in the third after losing the opening two frames, Donaldson then came out from the interval with breaks of 132 and 134 to level at 3-3. Walden would hit the front again before a run of 52 helped Donaldson back level at 4-4 and a run of 53 in the final frame saw him recover a 44 point deficit, eventually winning on the blue to secure a 6-5 win.
Last 16 results:
Neil Robertson 6-0 Lu Ning
Sam Craigie 6-2 Liang Wenbo
Alan McManus 6-3 Anthony McGill
Luca Brecel 6-0 Hossein Vafei
Jack Lisowski 6-4 Li Hang
Stuart Bingham 6-1 Rod Lawler
Ben Woollaston 6-4 Lu Haotian
Scott Donaldson 6-5 Ricky Walden
Quarter-final draw: (Picks in bold)
Neil Robertson Vs Sam Craigie
Luca Brecel Vs Alan McManus
Stuart Bingham Vs Jack Lisowski
Ben Woollaston Vs Scott Donaldson
Neil Robertson taking on Sam Craigie is one of the highlights of the four quarter-final matches. Robertson is in incredible form at the moment, as he eyes up two more victories in order to make a fourth ranking final in his last four ranking events and sixth overall this season. So far this week he has defeated Kishan Hirani 6-2, Mei Xiwen 6-3 and Lu Ning 6-0 and is on a winning run of 11 frames in a row. Craigie meanwhile is in the quarter-finals for the first time in his career and is finally showing his potential after three wins against high quality opposition so far this week. In beating Ryan Day, Ali Carter and Liang Wenbo he has only dropped seven frames which is remarkable given the level of player he has faced. A fourth upset of the week against Robertson would leave no real reason why he could not go on to lift the title at the weekend. Given the way Robertson is performing in the last two months though that is a tough ask for anyone right now.
Luca Brecel and Alan McManus is a tale of two players coming back into form at the right time. For Brecel, he has finally got the monkey off his back after making his first ranking quarter-final in 16 months and now that release of pressure could lead to this becoming a really big week, to match the one he had at the China Championship in August 2017 where he won his only ranking title to date. McManus meanwhile was still in a little bit of danger on the provisional end-of-season rankings as he started the week here in Beijing. Now though, he is as safe as houses and has only dropped five frames on the way to the last eight. The withdrawal of Mark Allen left him playing wildcard Pang Junxu whom he defeated 6-2, before a 6-0 win over Stuart Carrington and a last 16 triumph 6-3 over Anthony McGill. With Brecel whitewashing Hossein Vafei who I thought would cause him a few problems today, the Belgian really looks to be hitting his stride with the World Championships on the horizon and it will take all of McManus' experience to take him down.
The big quarter-final clash sees two top 16 players battle it out in a repeat of their World Championship first round match from a year ago. Jack Lisowski defeated Stuart Bingham on that occasion but with Bingham in fine form at the moment those tables could be turned. Bingham has dropped just four frames this week, making a maximum 147 break and five further centuries in his opening three games against Elliot Slessor, Peter Ebdon and Rod Lawler, though this will be a far bigger test against Lisowski. Having said that, Lisowski has needed some big finishes this week, winning all of the last three in a 6-3 last 32 win over Gerard Greene before fighting back against Li Hang in the last 16 winning all of the last four frames. He also does not quite seem to be scoring as heavily as he has been earlier in the season, only making one century so far this week compared to Bingham's six. After Bingham's recent runs to the Welsh Open final and winning the Gibraltar Open, he is certainly the favourite to win this one.
Finally, there is a big clash for Ben Woollaston and Scott Donaldson as they eye a place in a major semi-final and the biggest pay cheque's of their respective careers. Donaldson may have been in two quarter-finals recently at the Welsh Open and the Indian Open and be a former ranking semi-finalist at the Welsh Open, Paul Hunter Classic and the Gibraltar Open, while Woollaston is a former Welsh Open finalist, but you could argue that this may be the biggest match in their careers. Lining up against in a pretty even match in the quarter-finals of a big money tournament means they will both sense a massive opportunity to achieve something big here and climb up the rankings. Woollaston's biggest pay day is £30,000 and Donaldson's £20,000 so the opportunity to move on to a possible £45,000 here is enormous. Woollaston has overcome Ashley Carty, Andrew Higginson and Lu Haotian in three close matches to reach this point while Donaldson defeated Joe Perry and David Gilbert in the first two rounds before surviving a deciding frame against another quality opponent in Ricky Walden. Donaldson would also achieve a career high ranking if he wins this match, while Woollaston would climb back into the world's top 32 so there's plenty on the line in this match.
All four quarter-finals will be played on Friday over two tables as the tournament really starts to heat up. The matches will be over the best-of-11 frames once more and feature on Eurosport TV and the Eurosport Player.
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