Antrim’s Mark Allen crashed out of the BetVictor Welsh Open on Thursday after losing out to defending champion Ding Junhui.
Allen fell to a 4-2 defeat to Ding in the second round at Newport.
China’s Ding progressed to face Robert Milkins – who beat Sam Baird 4-2 –for a place in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Pankaj Advani made history at the Welsh Open as a 4-1 victory over Graeme Dott saw him become the first Indian player to reach the quarter-finals of a world ranking event.
Advani, the multiple world billiards champion playing as a newcomer on the main snooker tour this season, went 2-0 up in the second-round match in Newport with breaks of 63 and 73.
Dott pulled the third frame back, but Advani subsequently wrapped things up, finishing with a superb break of 100.
The 27-year-old from Pune has now defeated two former world champions at this tournament, having knocked out Shaun Murphy in round one.
“I am surprising myself with this run but I’m just going with the flow and trying to keep winning,” Advani told www.worldsnooker.com.
“It’s exciting to be playing against the best in the world, at the top level and under the best conditions.”
Advani’s last-eight opponent will be world number two Judd Trump, who comfortably saw off Andrew Higginson 4-1.
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