Eight players continue to chase the £500,000 top prize with the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters quarter-finals scheduled for Thursday in Riyadh.
The lineup comprises four competitors from the top 16 in the world rankings and four who have reached this point from the earlier stages of the competition.
Let’s take a brief look at each match.
Jimmy Robertson vs Mark Williams
By reaching the quarter-finals, Jimmy Robertson has already guaranteed himself £50,000 in prize money, which is not far off the cheque he received for landing his sole ranking title at the European Masters in 2018.
Robertson is ranked outside the world’s top 50 but that’s set to change, and his run this week basically safeguards his status as a professional for another two seasons.
The 38 year-old orchestrated an impressive 6-4 victory over world champion Kyren Wilson in the last 16 and will next take on Mark Williams.
Williams, who narrowly avoided an early exit in the previous round when he pipped Thepchaiya Un-Nooh in a decider, booked his quarter-final spot with a 6-2 triumph over Stuart Bingham.
The Welshman will undoubtedly be the favourite to reach the semi-finals as he continues his quest to win a 27th career ranking crown.
Williams boasts a dominant head-to-head record against Robertson, winning 11 of their 12 overall meetings, although that sole defeat did come the last time they crossed paths in a tournament.
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Si Jiahui
Ronnie O’Sullivan’s presence in the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters is arguably saving the event from embarrassing optics.
Crowd numbers at the Green Halls have generally been awful, but there was a decent number in to watch the Rocket fight back from 3-0 behind to deny Zhang Anda in a decider on Wednesday.
O’Sullivan will meet a third Chinese opponent of the week in the quarter-finals when he takes on Si Jiahui.
The latter also prevailed from a 6-5 thriller, edging countryman Pang Junxu having trailed 3-0 at the beginning as well.
If Si were to reach the semi-finals, he would leapfrog his way into the top 16 of the world rankings for the first time.
The 22 year-old has encountered O’Sullivan only once before, losing to the seven-time world champion at the English Open last season.
Judd Trump vs Neil Robertson
Undoubtedly the tie of the quarter-final round pits world number one Judd Trump against old rival Neil Robertson.
Robertson has looked quite strong this week as he attempts to conjure some form and reverse the rankings plummet from the last two seasons.
A 6-1 defeat of Gary Wilson in which he made breaks of 141 and 95 helped to substantiate his earlier win against Mark Selby.
Overcoming Trump would be the biggest sign yet that Robertson is well and truly on his way back.
The Englishman similarly won 6-1 in the sixth round, comfortably beating close pal Jack Lisowski with the aid of a hat-trick of tons.
Many of Trump and Robertson’s previous showdowns have been scoring frenzies, so it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the big breaks flowing again this time.
Trump enjoys a slightly superior head-to-head record and will be the favourite here given the pair’s respective recent form.
Shaun Murphy vs Xiao Guodong
It has been a strong start to the 2024/25 season for Shaun Murphy, who beat Elliot Slessor 6-3 to reach the last eight in Riyadh.
Murphy, who was pipped to Shanghai Masters glory by Judd Trump in July, will next face Xiao Guodong in the Saudi Arabia Masters.
Xiao will be pleased with his opening to the new campaign too, backing up his run to the last 32 in Xi’an with an even better week this time around.
The 35 year-old emerged from a lengthy 6-5 tussle with Scott Donaldson on Wednesday, finishing off the contest in style with a tidy break of 123.
Xiao and Murphy have faced each other only four times over the years, and Xiao has won two of those clashes – albeit over short distances.
The quarter-finals of the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters will be played under the best-of-11 frames format.
Wednesday’s Results (Rd 6)
Kyren Wilson 4-6 Jimmy Robertson
Mark Williams 6-2 Stuart Bingham
Ronnie O’Sullivan 6-5 Zhang Anda
Si Jiahui 6-5 Pang Junxu
Judd Trump 6-1 Jack Lisowski
Gary Wilson 1-6 Neil Robertson
Shaun Murphy 6-3 Elliot Slessor
Scott Donaldson 5-6 Xiao Guodong
Thursday’s Matches (QF)
12pm UTC+1
Judd Trump vs Neil Robertson
Shaun Murphy vs Xiao Guodong
6pm UTC+1
Jimmy Robertson vs Mark Williams
Ronnie O’Sullivan vs Si Jiahui
Click here to view the full draw, including updated results.
Featured photo credit: WST
