The China Championship quarter-final round will take place on Friday with eight players still fighting for the title in Guangzhou.
The 2019 China Championship kicked off last week, and so far we have seen upsets, defeats, stunning victories and major eliminations. This article previews the upcoming match fixtures for the quarter-final clashes.
The reigning champion of the China Championship Mark Selby just needs three wins to claim another title in Shanghai. In the round of 16, he claimed a hard-fought 5-2 over 27-year-old Chris Wakelin.
Mark Selby has not won any major ranking tournament since his he won the 2018 China Championship a year ago. Selby will be desperately searching out for the silverware that would provide him with an invitation into the upcoming epic Champion of Champions tournament.
Selby’s next opponent will be Barry Hawkins after Hawkins held off a spirited fightback from Chinese snooker player Zhao Xintong to prevail 5-4 by a single decider frame.
Hawkins had initially led 3-0 and later ended up with a 4-3 scoreline, but Zhao forced the decider, by drawing the game level. However, it was the experienced Hawkins who held on to win it.
John Higgins and Matthew Selt were the eliminated by Kurt Maflin and Shaun Murphy respectively.
Maflin’s match with Higgins was particularly impressive, after he fell three frames behind early in the game, but still emerged victorious.
Meanwhile, Mark Williams was the first player to reach the quarter-finals after he won former champion Luca Brecel in a comfortable 5-1 victory.
Although Williams has not won a ranking title in more than a year but will is now a clear favorite in the China Championship.
The Welshman will face David Gilbert next. Gilbert, who reached the World Championship semi-finals in May, came from two frames down to eliminate Noppon Saengkham 5-2.
The last tie will see Joe Perry tackle Iran’s Hossein Vafaei after he (Perry) cruised past world champion Judd Trump to coast through to the China Championship quarter-final stage.
As for Vafaei, the Iranian fought back from 4-3 down to deny Anthony McGill in a decider.
Written by: Collins Nwokolo