Defending champion Mark Allen is through to the semi-finals of the Haikou World Open after a 5-1 victory over Ricky Walden.
Antrim player Allen was not at his best, despite the scoreline and thought he could have played better before he faces John Higgins in the last four.
“I’m very happy to still be in the tournament but to be honest I’m only here because my opponents have not played well.
“I’ll need to play a lot better against John, he’ll be a big favourite as he’s back near his best. But I’m not going to let go of my title easily.”
And Higgins gave a masterclass to stun the Chinese crowd as home hero Ding Junhui suffered a 5-0 quarter-final thrashing at the Scot’s hands.
Higgins will have rarely played better in a best-of-nine-frames match, and he outscored Ding by an overwhelming points margin of 523-40.
“I didn’t really miss any easy shots and when I did miss I got a bit lucky,” said Higgins.
“Even at 4-0 down, Ding is still dangerous. He could have done the same to me as I did to him.”
Matthew Stevens beat Judd Trump 5-3, which featured breaks of 64, 70 and 79.
Neil Robertson awaits Stevens in the semi-finals after the Australian ousted world number two Mark Selby 5-3.
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