Reigning world champion Zhao Xintong beat his idol Ding Junhui 13-9 to reach the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship, where he will face Shaun Murphy.
Zhao began the day with a 9-7 lead but made a slow start, struggling with his cue ball control. This gave Ding a chance to get back into the match, and after a long and tactical frame, he reduced the gap.
The match stayed close for a while, with both players making mistakes. However, Zhao handled the pressure better and won an important frame to go 11-8 ahead, taking advantage of an error from Ding late on.
Ding responded well in the next frame with a quick break of 76, but after the interval, he began to struggle with his eyesight. He looked uncomfortable at the table and made several errors, which allowed Zhao to take control again.
Zhao produced a brilliant break of 108 and then added a couple of smaller contributions to seal the win and move into the next round with confidence.
In the quarter-finals, he will meet Murphy, who had an easy 13-3 win in his last match and will be well rested.
On the other table, Mark Selby made a strong start against Wu Yize with two excellent century breaks. But Wu responded well, staying calm and taking his chances to level the match at 4-4 after the first session.
