As we reach the end of day 3 in Shanghai, the quarter-finals line-up has been decided and it’s an interesting one. Indeed, all four quater-finals matches will see a British player do battle with a Chinese player: Mark Selby v Pang Junxu, Shaun Murphy v Zhou Yuelong, Ronnie v Ding and Judd Trump v Si Jiahui.
Here is how we got to this, as reported by WST:
SHANGHAI MASTERS DAY THREE: ZHOU WHITEWASHES WILSON
Zhou Yuelong staged a stunning 6-0 win over World Champion Kyren Wilson to make the last eight of the Shanghai Masters.
It was a rough start to Wilson’s reign as Crucible king, in his first appearance competing at a straight knockout event since securing a maiden World Championship victory in May.
Zhou compiled breaks of 78, 59 and 83 during today’s emphatic victory. He now faces 2005 World Champion Shaun Murphy in the quarter-finals. Afterwards he admitted that a change in mindset, prompted by his wife, has helped him with his game.
Zhou said: “I’ve taken a big step on personal level this summer. My wife has been very helpful and we have worked on being able to play my game with a different mindset. That has been a great help to my career. I used to hope for chances during competitions, but now I tend to think differently, which has allowed me to enjoy it more. I’m happy and it’s not really about winning the match, but being able to do what I wanted to in the game.“
Murphy sealed his progression with an impressive 6-3 win over John Higgins. The Magician fired in breaks of 62, 55, 56, 93, 83 and 64 during the tie. Defeat for Higgins means he will have to wait a little longer to reach 1000 centuries, he is currently stranded on 998.
Mark Selby produced a strong showing in his first appearance of the season, defeating Chinese amateur Cao Jin 6-1 to make the quarters.
Selby had cast doubts on his future as a professional after a disappointing showing at the World Championship, but after discussions with his wife he elected to continue this term.
Despite going a frame down this afternoon, the four-time Crucible king crafted breaks of 115, 76 and 65 on his way to six on the bounce and a place in the quarter-finals.
Speaking earlier this week, Selby explained his decision to carry on playing, he said: “I’ve had a couple of holidays and just switched off completely. I’ve come here to give it a go. I sat down with Vikki and she said she thought I should carry on playing as I have more to give to the game, but maybe to pick and choose and don’t play in everything. I’m going to give that a go and see what happens.“
Selby now faces Pang Junxu, who conquered world number one Mark Allen 6-5 in a thrilling encounter. The tie couldn’t be completed in the afternoon session and was pulled off with Pang leading 5-4. When play resumed later in the evening, Allen showed his class with a break of 101 to force a decider. However, it was the steely Pang who took the last on the blue to progress.
The match between Pang and Allen was as hard-fought as it gets. It wasn’t pretty, it was quite slow going1, it overran, but it certainly was compelling to watch. Both players held themselves together well under pressure. Both looked exhausted and tense during the decider. Eventually it seemed that Allen was going to win – Pang, in his seat looked resigned to defeat, clearly expecting his opponent to clear up – but Allen didn’t land ideally on the last blue and missed it.
Here is the end of the match, shared by Eurosport on their YouTube channel:
- Not because the players were unduly slow, but because both played some great safeties and the balls ended up in awkward positions ↩︎
