World Championship: Marco Fu beats Neil Robertson in Crucible epic

Fu hit back from 4-1 down to head into 4-4, and the pair won four frames each in Sunday's evening session to leave the match finely poised at 8-8.

With world number eight Fu struggling with his cueing during the opening of the final session, Robertson opened up a two-frame advantage to lead 10-8.

However, Fu rallied with breaks of 78 and 115 to restore parity at the mid-session interval before the pendulum swung once more in the favour of the Australian, who claimed a tense 21st frame, duly punching the air by slotting the final black for an 11-10 advantage.

But his joy was short-lived as Fu managed to claim the final three frames – including sealing the 24th frame on the black – with some stout match play to progress to the last eight.

Robertson had chances to force the deciding frame when Fu suffered a horrid kick on a red within a few points of the finishing line leading by 50 odd points, but his opponent could not clear under pressure.

Fu will face Mark Selby in the quarter finals with their first session on Tuesday afternoon.

105-1 (105), 6-66, 86-0 (62), 78-31 (62), 90-30 (90), 1-119 (118), 14-98 (60), 47-59, 68-46, 8-121 (109), 92-6 (91), 33-94 (64), 0-73 (72), 92-0, 70-4 (58), 2-102 (56), 77-32, 73-32, 7-78 (78),0-119 (115), 76-70, 8-70, 15-69 (69), 60-64

Centuries: Four.

Mark Selby made short work of Xiao Guodong in the afternoon session at the crucible, rattling off three straight frames - including an impressive century break - to reach the quarterfinals. The Jester from Leicester will face the winner of the remaining last-16 clash between Neil Robertson and Marco Fu.

Barry Hawkins also rattled through the conclusion of his match with Graeme Dott, barely giving the beleagured Scot a sniff to win 13-6.

75-19 (67), 88-29 (58), 25-93, 80-5, 70-17 (51), 80-40 (76), 8-89 (89), 72-49, 0-89, 62-28, 0-131 (131), 68-54 (Selby 68, Guodong 54), 70-39, 71-35, 51-67 (Selby 51), 16-62, 101-0 (101), 87-29 (73), 98-1 (60)

Centuries: Two

73-16, 60-69, 51-63 (Dott 51, Hawkins 50), 13-81, 79-43 (64), 8-72 (54), 0-92 (91), 6-91, 69-24, 57-70 (Dott 57, Hawkins 70), 28-59, 66-1 (65), 59-41 (59), 109-8 (105), 62-50, 68-14, 98-0 (98), 77-30

Centuries: One