John Higgins wins classic with Mark Allen, Ding Junhui edges out Liang Wenbo

Resuming 9-7 clear from Saturday's morning session, Higgins won the four frames he needed with the turning point of the match coming in the 18th frame when Allen looked poised to level at 9-9.

The Northern Irishman - who hit four centuries in an unfortunate defeat - was among the balls on a break of 58 when he got a terrible kick in breaking down. Higgins duly produced a quite majestic clearance of 63 to open up a two-frame advantage at 10-8.

“It was an unbelievable win and I’m over-the-moon,” said Higgins. “The match all hinged on those two clearances for 8-6 and 10-8 - the second one won me the game.”

A break of 124 carried the Scotsman 11-8 ahead, and he dominated the 21st and 22nd frames with Allen failing to register a point as Higgins reached his 13th quarter-final at the venue.

Ding Junhui came through a final-frame shootout with Liang Wenbo to set up a quarter-final clash with Ronnie O'Sullivan.

The Chinese number one took advantage of a miscue from his countryman in the 25th frame to build a match-winning 700 break before Liang potted the white to concede the match.

He will now face five-times champion O'Sullivan, who beat Shaun Murphy earlier in the day.

Defending champion Mark Selby established a 6-2 lead over Xiao Guodong after their opening session.

0-136, 0-100 (100), 68-14, 90-42, 24-106 (102), 0-129 (129), 0-82, 72-40, 84-0, 64-20, 124-0 (124), 55-1, 0-122 (116), 72-70, 17-65, 76-26, 5-76 (76), 64-58 (Higgins 63, Allen 58), 124-7 (120), 5-93 (54), 69-0, 89-0

Centuries: six.

75-19 (67), 88-29 (58), 25-93, 80-5, 70-17 (51), 80-40 (76), 8-89 (89), 72-49

Centuries: None

133-0 (111), 67-57 (Wenbo 57), 16-68 (62), 113-0 (113), 99-1 (53), 36-62, 92-0 (62), 70-12 (70), 0-84 (84), 5-83 (75), 95-29 (91), 0-130 (130), 69-51 (Wenbo 51), 0-79 (79), 94-0 (94), 31-75, 23-110 (58), 0-98 (98), 59-86 (61), 72-43, 80-0 (80), 32-95 (50), 138-0 (132), 74-16 (70)

Centuries: Four

72-43, 94-31 (67), 56-14, 72-43, 85-6 (71), 0-73 (73), 45-63 72-23 (63)

Centuries: None

Ronnie O’Sullivan booked his spot in the last eight with a 13-7 win over Shaun Murphy at the World Championship.

The Rocket, requiring three frames in Saturday’s session to book a spot in the last eight, posted another century – adding to his majestic 128 break in the first session – as he coasted home.

In the other match of the first session, John Higgins roared into a 9-7 lead against Mark Allen.

The Scot, trailing ahead of Saturday's session, was in supreme form, firing an early 124 break to level before pulling clear.

However, Allen will be wondering quite how he is behind after sinking four centuries in the contest.

1-110, 130-0, 5-75, 7-128 (128), 21-77, 16-84, 64-63, 0-78, 91-0, 0-80, 0-79, 44-89, 96-1, 80-8, 88-5, 58-68, 32-105, 75-52, 22-111 (111), 17-101

Centuries: two.

10:00

Neil Robertson (Aus) v Marco Fu (HK)

Barry Hawkins (Eng) v Graeme Dott (Sco)

Mark Selby (Eng) 6-2 Xiao Guodong (Chn)

75-19 (67), 88-29 (58), 25-93, 80-5, 70-17 (51), 80-40 (76), 8-89 (89), 72-49

Stephen Maguire (Sco) 6-2 Rory McLeod (Eng)

72-43, 94-31 (67), 56-14, 72-43, 85-6 (71), 0-73 (73), 45-63, 72-23 (63)

Neil Robertson (Aus) v Marco Fu (HK)

Barry Hawkins (Eng) v Graeme Dott (Sco)