There was double disappointment for Neil Robertson on Thursday afternoon at the Unibet British Open as he narrowly missed out on a 1,000th career century and lost 4-1 to Shaun Murphy.
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Robertson is on the verge of becoming the fourth player, after Ronnie O’Sullivan, Judd Trump and John Higgins, to cross the 1,000 tons milestone, but for now remains stuck on 999. Murphy goes through to the last 16 in Cheltenham and will face Trump or Martin O’Donnell on Thursday night.
Breaks of 86 and 50 helped put Murphy 2-0 ahead then Robertson replied with a run of 100. Murphy pinched frame four on the colours, then in the fifth Robertson was on course for his 1,000th century until he missed the last red to a top corner on 66. The frame came down to a respotted black and Murphy slotted it into a centre pocket.
Mark Williams edged out Mark Allen 4-3 to set up a tie with Lei Peifan. Defending champion Mark Selby saw a 3-0 lead slip away against Joe O’Connor, but Selby eventually prevailed 4-3.
Ali Carter top scored with 86 in a 4-0 win over Iulian Boiko. Ben Mertens reached the last 16 of a knockout ranking event for the second time in his career with a 4-0 success over Robbie McGuigan, and the Belgian will now meet John Higgins. Wuhan Open king Xiao Guodong edged out Zhang Anda 4-3 with a run of 62 in the decider.
Louis Heathcote equalled the best ranking event run of his career with a 4-2 defeat of Liam Davies to reach the quarter-finals of the Unibet British Open, and paid tribute to his new mentor Anthony Hamilton.
World number 88 Heathcote is into the last eight of a ranking event for the third time and will meet John Higgins on Friday evening. The Leicester cueman has fresh enthusiasm this season as he is working with highly-respected former pro Hamilton who called time on his 34-year career at the end of last season.
“He’s an absolute legend, I love spending time with him,” said 28-year-old Heathcote. “Last season I started practising with him because I felt I was always losing to those type of experienced players so I wanted to learn something from playing with him. I knew it was going to be torture, but I wanted to learn how to beat him. I absolutely loved it, he made me feel great and gave me advice and praise. When he lost in Q School, I gave it two days then I messaged him and asked if he would work with me.
“I am buzzing to be back in a quarter-final. I put a lot of work in over the summer and kept that going into the season, and the results are validating that work.”
Higgins enjoyed a 4-1 victory over Ben Mertens with a top break of 76.
It was some day for Shaun Murphy as he beat Neil Robertson 4-1 and world number one Judd Trump 4-3 to earn a quarter-final tie with Mitchell Mann. He took a 3-1 lead over Trump with a top break of 131, then his opponent fought back to 3-3 before Murphy finished in style with a 123.
“I must be in a very small club of players who have beaten Neil and Judd on the same day,” said Murphy, who recently dropped out of the world’s top 16 for the first time in 19 years, but has already regained his place among the elite. “In a way it made my job easy today because I knew I needed to play at my best
“I wasn’t aware of my run in the top 16 until I was out and it was all over social media. I am very proud of that run although it makes me very old as in my head I am still 25!“
Mann continued his fine run with a 4-2 win over Barry Hawkins and he’s into the third ranking quarter-final of his career.
Defending champion Mark Selby sailed into the quarter-finals by beating Chang Bingyu 4-0 in just 58 minutes with top breaks of 93, 78 and 70. He now faces an intriguing clash with Mark Williams, who saw off Lei Peifan 4-1 with a top run of 123.
Teenager Stan Moody continued to underline his potential as he beat Ali Carter 4-3 with top breaks of 86 and 69. His next opponent is Anthony McGill, who saw off Xiao Guodong 4-2 with top runs of 105 and 87.
At times I really wonder why some players enter those competitions, especially as the entry fees are not insignificant. For instance, currently competing in Dubai is Mohamed Al Joker. He’s 52. He’s a former pro … he’s been on tour for one season in 1996/97, his highest competitive break is 114 and his highest pro ranking was 388. Surely he can’t seriously hope to get back on the main tour and to be able to compete with the current pros? But maybe the money isn’t an issue and he just sees it as an opportunity to play in a proper tournament, under pro conditions and, possibly, to reconnect with a few former “colleagues”? Why not, indeed …
Yes, that’s the reason. Very few participants in these Q Tour events have any serious professional aspirations at all – indeed if by some miracle they did qualify, they probably wouldn’t be able to give up their current life and afford to move to the UK anyway.
They play in these events because they are great tournaments, and the standard is higher than what they get in their local club or town. Their name is on the website, and possibly their match might be streamed. There is an appetite for strong amateur snooker – people do want to get out and play, and be part of a global community of players.
That is precisely why I favoured a global ranking system, which would also give players visibility and an incentive to challenge themselves.
Ronnie O'Sullivan 
Yes, that’s the reason. Very few participants in these Q Tour events have any serious professional aspirations at all – indeed if by some miracle they did qualify, they probably wouldn’t be able to give up their current life and afford to move to the UK anyway.
They play in these events because they are great tournaments, and the standard is higher than what they get in their local club or town. Their name is on the website, and possibly their match might be streamed. There is an appetite for strong amateur snooker – people do want to get out and play, and be part of a global community of players.
That is precisely why I favoured a global ranking system, which would also give players visibility and an incentive to challenge themselves.