John Higgins’ defence of his Welsh Open title ended at the fourth-round stage when he was beaten by Michael White in Cardiff. The four-times world champion went down 4-1 to the Welshman, who advances to a quarter-final against the world No9, Mark Allen.
Ronnie O’Sullivan eased through to the last eight as he overcame China’s Yu Delu 4-1. Yu took the first frame when he fluked a respotted black but O’Sullivan powered back to take victory.
O’Sullivan said on BBC Sport: “Yu Delu is a brilliant player, so I was a bit nervous at the start. I maybe was giving him a little bit too much respect. I lost the first frame but got some momentum going after.”
O’Sullivan will now play the world No1, Mark Selby, who saw off the former world champion Mark Williams 4-2.
Allen claimed his place in the last eight with a 4-3 victory over Barry Hawkins, while the world No3, Neil Robertson, saw off Marco Fu 4-2 and Ben Woollaston beat Martin Gould 4-1.
World No6 Judd Trump suffered an agonising 4-3 defeat to Joe Perry after missing the potential match-winning black in the sixth frame.
His slip up allowed Perry to level the match and then go on to take victory in the deciding frame. Ding Junhui wrapped up the day’s action by beating Luca Brecel 4-2.
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