The field at the 2025 International Championship has been whittled down to its last eight contenders with the quarter-finals on the agenda for Thursday in Nanjing.
Among the players who were dumped out of the running on Wednesday were defending champion Ding Junhui and world number one Judd Trump.
Recent Northern Ireland Open champion Jack Lisowski and world number three Neil Robertson were a couple of other marquee names to exit proceedings.
There is still plenty of firepower left in the draw, however, so let’s take a look at each of the International Championship quarter-finals.
Shaun Murphy vs John Higgins
There are a couple of heavyweight encounters and it doesn’t come much bigger than a tie between Shaun Murphy and John Higgins.
A repeat of the 2009 World Championship final, the in-form Murphy takes on Higgins who is bidding to capture silverware for the first time this season.
Murphy is one of only two players left in the draw who has already won a ranking title this term, the Magician triumphing at the British Open before finishing runner-up at the Xi’an Grand Prix.
The Englishman is probably the favourite given their recent levels of form, but Higgins does boast a superior head-to-head record from their prior matches in all competitions.
Zak Surety vs Stephen Maguire
When Zak Surety came within a whisker of reaching the World Open final in the spring of this year, many thought that he would quickly push on and assert himself as a top player.
That hasn’t quite materialised yet, but he has reproduced that kind of form this week to reach the last eight – boosted by a 147 against Aaron Hill and a telling victory over Robertson.
Next up is Stephen Maguire, who outscored Jiang Jun in the last round to sustain his hopes of landing a second ranking crown of the campaign.
The Scot has faced Surety only twice before, with the pair enjoying one win apiece over the shorter best-of-seven frames format.
Wu Yize vs Barry Hawkins
Wu Yize produced a remarkable comeback from 4-0 down to beat Judd Trump 6-4 in the last 16 on Wednesday – tallying breaks of 109, 92, 88, 86, 80, and 62 along the way.
The 22 year-old, twice a ranking event runner-up last season, will be hard to beat if he can maintain that level of power scoring.
But the vastly experienced Barry Hawkins is also playing well, underlined by his 6-4 defeat of man-of-the-moment Jack Lisowski.
Hawkins beat Wu 6-4 when they last clashed at the Shanghai Masters in the summer, and the Englishman boasts a 2-1 head-to-head record overall.
Mark Selby vs Zhao Xintong
It has been a quiet period for Zhao Xintong – on the baize at least, as he probably has been extremely busy with his various commitments as world champion off of it.
The Chinese superstar has got back to business this week, though, and has been rewarded with a first quarter-final appearance in a ranking event since the Crucible.
Zhao takes on Mark Selby next, who twice won the International Championship as the sport’s world champion almost a decade ago.
Selby has beaten Zhao in six out of their previous eight matches in all competitions, and when Championship League ties are taken away, the head-to-head ominously reads 5-0 in the Leicester man’s favour.
International Championship quarter-finals
Shaun Murphy vs John Higgins
(Thursday, 11:30am UTC/GMT)
Zak Surety vs Stephen Maguire
(Thursday, 11:30am UTC/GMT)
Wu Yize vs Barry Hawkins
(Thursday, 6:30am UTC/GMT)
Mark Selby vs Zhao Xintong
(Thursday, 6:30am UTC/GMT)
Featured photo credit: WST
