Judd Trump set up a mouthwatering quarter-final against world number one Neil Robertson after beating Ryan Day in the last 16 of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.
Resuming Monday evening’s final session 10-6 in front, Trump lost the first frame of the night but reeled off the next three to book his clash with the in-form Australian.
Earlier, Robertson came agonisingly closer to claiming his historic 100th century break of the season as he won four frames in a row to beat Northern Ireland’s Mark Allen 13-7.
Robertson recorded breaks of 59, 69, 94 and 92 but missed a simple black with the hundred at his mercy and will hope for another chance against Trump.
Robertson admitted on BBC2: “I was gutted because (Stephen) Hendry was in the commentary box as well and I would have loved to do it with him in there.
“Those last two frames I was like a cricketer on 190 or something like that. It was unfortunate. I missed the black with one red left and I thought I hit the black perfectly and I was about to celebrate but it rattled in the jaws.
“That frame there, I missed a really tough red down the cushion and I thought I hit it pretty good again but it wasn’t to be. The snooker gods are going to keep you guys waiting a little bit longer.”
Unlike Robertson, Trump is yet to discover his top form in this year’s Championships but will be pleased with the way he polished off the final three frames against Day.
There were signs the 24-year-old could be in for a nervous evening when he missed a risky red in the opening frame of the session and Day took his chance to narrow to 10-7 with a break of 26.
Day looked set to further narrow the deficit in the next frame but was unfortunate to foul the blue with his waistcoat as he reached to pot a red.
Later in the same frame, a kick on a yellow forced Day out of position and gave Trump a chance to come back and clear the colours to restore his three-frame lead.
A break of 39 from Trump proved enough to take him within one frame of victory, and Robertson awaited after he won the scrappy final frame before the interval.
Former champion Shaun Murphy will face Ronnie O’Sullivan in the last eight after wrapping up a 13-8 victory over Marco Fu.
Resuming at 9-7, Murphy won the first three frames of the evening before Fu rallied with a break of 92 to narrow the deficit. An awkward break of 25 was enough to see Murphy over the line in the next round.
In the afternoon session, Dominic Dale claimed the one frame he needed to wrap up a 13-4 win over qualifier Michael Wasley.
Dale will play last year’s losing finalist Barry Hawkins in the last eight, while the remaining quarter-final pits veteran Alan McManus against Mark Selby.
