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Favourite Neil Robertson knocked out of Australian Goldfields Open

Exit the Aussie hero as Dominic Dale reaches last eight
Dale will now face fellow Welshman Mark Williams
Neil Robertson, snooker player
Australia's Neil Robertson was eliminated in Bendigo by Dominic Dale after a battle lasting nearly four hours. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA

Neil Robertson, the home favourite and the 2010 world champion, was knocked out of the Australian Goldfields Open in Bendigo on Thursday after a tense encounter with Dominic Dale of Wales.

A battle lasting close to four hours was decided on the final black, when Dale set up a quarter-final against his compatriot Mark Williams.

Dale led 3-1 before Robertson cut the gap with a break of 111, his second century of the match. The Australian was looking much the more fluent player and compiled breaks of 59 and 54 to set up a decider. The 54-minute frame swung to and fro before Dale potted the final pink and black to win by a single point.

Williams booked his place in the quarter-finals with a comfortable win over David Gilbert. Williams, who posted what he called an "awful, appalling" 5-2 win over Barry Pinches on Wednesday, triumphed by the same scoreline against his English opponent but was much happier with his overall performance.

"It was a lot better today and I knew if I played like I did yesterday then I was going to get beaten," said the world No1, who enjoyed breaks of 78 and 83 in a strong potting display.

Mark Allen and Stuart Bingham showed no inclination to bury the hatchet after they set up a renewal of hostilities. Northern Ireland's Allen made it into the last eight with a one-sided 5-1 win over Scotland's Marcus Campbell with breaks of 101, 71, 100, 63 and 67. Though he took the time to commiserate with Campbell over "the worst run of luck I've seen someone have against me", he was not in such sporting mood as he looked ahead to his next match.

"There's a bit of history between us. We don't get on," Allen said of Bingham. "He said about getting revenge on Ding [Junhui] for his Crucible defeat but it would be nice to send him back where he belongs.

"He doesn't like me because I told the truth in a press conference that he has no bottle – and as he threw away a match at the World Championship after leading 12-9. I think that showed it.

"It was great he did because that let the legend that is Stephen Hendry stay in the top 16 and I would rather see Hendry in the top 16 than Bingham."

Bingham, who beat Tom Ford 5-0 with two runs of 94 and two further half-centuries, was also happy enough to stoke the fire. "I can't wait to play this match," he said. "He said a few words after the UK Championship which were a bit out of order and I've been waiting for this match for a while. He said I've got no bottle and he thought he was never going to lose to me. I will definitely be up for it. It will give me more pleasure to beat him."

Another grudge match is already out of the way, with Ken Doherty punishing Liang Wenbo for his World Cup sartorial blunder with a 5-4 win. The 41-year-old angrily insisted Liang should have been docked the frame for forgetting his bow-tie during his quarter-final against Doherty's Republic of Ireland team-mate Fergal O'Brien in Bangkok.

Doherty will now face Mark Selby, who scrapped for a 5-3 win over Mark Davis.

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