The European Masters draw has been whittled down its last 16 contenders in Germany this week.
By the end of a hectic Friday, the four semi-finalists will be determined with two rounds to be played back to back at the Stadthalle in Furth.
Only six from the original top 16 seeds in the draw are still in with a shot of European Masters glory and the £80,000 top prize.
Despite not hitting his best form this week so far, third seed Judd Trump is the favourite for the title after reaching the last 16 with a 5-3 victory over Andrew Higginson.
Trump takes on surprise package Farakh Ajaib next, the Pakistan player who fought back from 3-1 down to upset Marco Fu on Thursday and reach this stage of a ranking event for the first time in his career.
Mark Williams, Barry Hawkins, and Yan Bingtao also lie in Trump’s bottom half of the European Masters draw.
Hawkins takes on Robert Milkins with a possible quarter-final tie against the former world number one to come.
Williams and Yan, meanwhile, face Zhou Yuelong and Jamie Jones respectively in a pair of Wales versus China fixtures.
The standout tie from the other side of the draw sees Shaun Murphy and Kyren Wilson do battle for a berth in the last eight.
Murphy is attempting to bounce back after a disappointing 2021/22 campaign in which the Magician reached only one ranking semi-final.
It was revealed earlier this week that the former world champion has undergone gastric sleeve surgery in an effort to get his career back on track.
Former ranking event winners Ali Carter and Ryan Day are also in this section, with the former in action against David Grace and the latter challenged by the impressive Wu Yize.
Up-and-coming hotshot Si Jiahui participates in the remaining last-16 encounter, with the 20 year-old facing amateur top-up Daniel Wells and in with a great opportunity to appear in a quarter-final for the first time.
European Masters Last 16 Draw
Daniel Wells vs Si Jiahui (2:30pm)
Shaun Murphy vs Kyren Wilson (2:30pm)
Ryan Day vs Wu Yize (10am)
Ali Carter vs David Grace (10am)
Judd Trump vs Farakh Ajaib (10am)
Barry Hawkins vs Robert Milkins (10am)
Mark Williams vs Zhou Yuelong (2:30pm)
Yan Bingtao vs Jamie Jones (2:30pm)
Quarter-finals to follow at 7pm
Live coverage is on Eurosport and various other broadcasters.
Click here to view the full draw
Featured photo credit: WST
I think Ajaib’s run matches the best run in a ranking event by a Pakistani player. I believe Shokat Ali never went further than the last 16.
I’m going to be using Jay from now on when commenting as use that name instead of Jamie with many people including some in the snooker community like Marcus Stead and on emails for podcasts.