Shaun Murphy, John Higgins advance to quarterfinal of 2016 Snooker World Open
Xinhua, July 29, 2016 Adjust font size:
Shaun Murphy and John Higgins continued to pursue the champion of 2016 Snooker World Open by heading into the quarterfinal in Yushan, southeast county of China here on Thursday.
Murphy had five 50+ point breaks in all his five winning frames. Kurt Maflin only outscored him 76-49 in the fourth. The defending champion enjoyed a comfortable 5-1 victory to meet Joe Perry in the quarterfinal of the World Open.
"I had a lot of respect for Kurt, he and I grow up together playing snooker," said Murphy, " the last time we played he beat me, I think it was in Beijing, so I know very well how good and dangerous he is. So tonight I need to play my best and give my 100% from the first shoot."
Higgins beat Mark Williams in a clash of titans. The Wizard won five straight frames after Williams took a temporary 2-0 lead. A 144-point break in the fifth frame was the highest so far in this year' s World Open.
Allister Carter, who defeated Daniel Wells in a roller-coaster style nine-frame match, will be Higgins' s opponent.
Zhang Anda, the only Chinese player in last 16, was swept by David Gilbert in a night match. Next Round the latter will face Neil Robertson, who beat Ryan Day 5-1 tonight.
Another pair of the quarterfinal will be Anthony McGill and Thepchaiya Un-Nooh. Endit