Fergal O'Brien notched up an unexpected victory when he edged out fellow Dubliner Ken Doherty 5-4 in the Thailand Open in Bangkok yesterday. O'Brien will face Stephen Hendry in the quaterfinals.
Hendry overcame old rival Jimmy White yesterday, then declared: "That's the worst match we've ever played against each other".
Hendry, who has crossed cues with White on 35 occasions, described his form as "terrible"; following a low quality, 5-2, second round victory to reach the quarter finals of the £230,000 ranking tournament.
For White, also beaten 5-2 by Hendry in the quarter finals of last month's International Open, the defeat was a major blow in his battle to cling on to a place, amongst the game's elite top 16 next season.
In sharing the opening four frames, Hendry could not manage a break over 39. The world champion moved 3-2 ahead by winning frame five with a clearance of the last two reds to pink and White's resistance crumbled - he scored only four more points in the match.
Quinten Hann caused a considerable upset when he advanced to the last eight with a shock 5-1 victory over Grand Prix champion Mark Williams.
