Snooker news - Neil Robertson pounces on Mark WIlliams miss to rampage into last eight, Hawkins win

ByEurosport

Updated 15/01/2019 at 22:52 GMT

Neil Robertson punished a glaring Mark Williams error in the fifth frame before winning five straight frames for a 6-3 win over the world champion at the Masters on Tuesday.

Neil Robertson

Image credit: PA Sport

WATCH MASTERS SNOOKER ON EUROSPORT AND EUROSPORT PLAYER

Williams looked set to move three frames clear leading 57-0 and 3-1, but somehow missed a routine brown on a break of 47 that would have left his opponent needing snookers at the Alexandra Palace.

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Facing a potential 4-1 deficit, the 2010 world champion produced an immaculate clearance of 59 before a classy 102 saw him draw level at 3-3.

Robertson continued his revival with a 69 helping him to lead 4-3 before he pinched a pivotal eighth frame on the pink after Williams had opened with 53.

A protracted bout of tippy tappy around the pink in the eighth frame ended when the Melbourne player slotted a lovely pot along the bottom cushion for a 5-3 advantage.

Suddenly Robertson was really flowing as a fabulous cut to a centre pocket on a red provided him with the platform for a match-winning knock of 88.

The tie had hinged on the missed brown after Williams had opened up a 3-1 lead boosted by a 74 break in the third frame and a 45 in the fourth with Robertson contributing 54 in the second frame to restore parity at 1-1.

Robertson missed the Masters last year due to some indifferent form at the outset of last season, but will be among the favourites to repeat his 2012 success at the sport's biggest invitational event.

He will face Barry Hawkins after the former Masters finalist completed a 6-2 win over an error-strewn Shaun Murphy.

The 2015 Masters winner contributed to his own downfall as Hawkins rolled in breaks of 86, 124 and 60 on his way to a 5-0 lead.

2005 world champion Murphy staved off the whitewash with a 74 break in the sixth frame and won the seventh, but Hawkins kept his composure in the eighth frame to seal a deserved place in the last eight.

MASTERS FIRST ROUND

Mark Allen 5-6 Luca Brecel
Ding Junhui 6-1 Jack Lisowski
John Higgins 5-6 Ryan Day
Ronnie O'Sullivan 6-2 Stuart Bingham
Mark Selby v Stephen Maguire
Judd Trump v Kyren Wilson
Barry Hawkins 6-2 Shaun Murphy
Mark Williams 3-6 Neil Robertson

MASTER QUARTER-FINALS

Luca Brecel v Ding Junhui
Ryan Day v Ronnie O'Sullivan
Selby/Maguire v Trump/Wilson
Barry Hawkins v Neil Robertson

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