World Open 2024: Inspired Ding Junhui downs Shaun Murphy, Mark Selby falls to Jackson Page as quarter-finals set
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Published 21/03/2024 at 14:34 GMT
The thrills and spills at the World Open continued on Thursday afternoon when Ding Junhui compiled a brilliant 5-3 win over Shaun Murphy that booked him a quarter-final berth. Another former world champon, Mark Selby, suffered a shock exit at the hands of Jackson Page, whose dream run continues, while Neil Robertson overcame Chris Wakelin to progress.
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Ding Junhui delighted the home crowd in Yushan with an electric performance to beat Shaun Murphy in the last 16 of the World Open, while Mark Selby suffered a shock defeat to Jackson Page.
Ding claimed a 5-3 victory after a high-quality contest where the two players produced a pair of centuries apiece, and every frame included a break of 65 or more.
The 11th seed boasted the highest clearance of the match, a 130 in frame four, while further breaks of 101, 83, 74 and 66 got the job done.
Murphy found some good form of his own, claiming his trio of frames with 101, 121 and 86 breaks to take his tally of centuries to seven for the tournament, but it wasn’t enough.
It was the Chinese player’s first win over Murphy in 11 years, ending a five-match losing run dating back to 2013, and came at a good time as he continues to show his best form on home soil.
Ding’s win earned him a mouthwatering quarter-final clash with Hossein Vafaei, who claimed a stunning victory over world No. 1 Ronnie O’Sullivan earlier on Thursday.
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Elsewhere, Welshman Page continued his sensational run by knocking out former world champion and No. 5 seed Selby with a 5-2 win.
It was Page’s second big scalp of the tournament after eliminating John Higgins in round two and earned him a shot at Elliot Slessor for a place in the final four.
An eye-catching start saw Page open with a 130 break and Selby respond with a 129, before the Welshman made runs of 120 and 100 and fell just seven points short of a fourth century in five frames when he ended on 93 to take a 4-1 lead.
Selby’s 131 kept him in it as the centuries kept coming thick and fast, but Page held off the Jester and finished with a 74 clearance.
Another former world champion, Neil Robertson, moved into the quarter-finals with a 5-1 win over Chris Wakelin in another century-packed match.
The Australian sealed his victory with runs of 140, 113, 122 and 126 to set up a clash with Barry Hawkins.
The quarter-final draw was completed by Slessor, who ended the run of Daniel Wells with a 5-2 win.
World Open quarter-finals
- Judd Trump v Kyren Wilson
- Jackson Page v Elliot Slessor
- Hossein Vafaei v Ding Junhui
- Neil Robertson v Barry Hawkins
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