After what was widely considered to be a rather sluggish performance in his first round encounter with Liam Highfield, defending champion Zhao Xintong showed his class in defeating compatriot Ding Junhui 13-9 at the Crucible, with Xintong making three century breaks of 116, 115, and 108 on his way to what in the end was a fairly comfortable victory over a player who for many years was widely tipped to become the first world champion from China before Xintong took that honour last May. Xintong now faces another tough test in the shape of 2005 world champion Shaun Murphy, in which both players will likely be going out on all out attacking snooker as they seek to get into the semi-finals.
John Higgins showed just why he is known as the 'Wizard of Wishaw' as he kept in touch with Ronnie O'Sullivan by claiming the final three frames of Sunday evening's second session to trail 9-7 heading into what could be a pulsating final session on Monday afternoon. At no point was Higgins anywhere near his best, but O'Sullivan was also not on his finest form, not at all nearing the incredible form he was in the previous evening, and Higgins will surely be delighted at just trailing by two frames.
Mark Selby, four-times world champion, had started off like a house on fire with two successive centuries, but finds himself trailing Wu Hize 9-7. In the first session, Yize had claimed three frames on the bounce after Selby's two century breaks, before the session ended at 4-apiece. After Selby had claimed the opening frame of the second session, Yize won five of the next six before Selby reduced Yize's lead to two by claiming the final frame of the session.
Neil Robertson took firm control of his match against Chris Wakelin and now requires just three more frames from claiming a place in the last sixteen of the World Championship, while Judd Trump will be pleased at taking a 9-7 lead against Hossein Vafaei, having begun the second session all square at 4-4.
ORDER OF PLAY - MONDAY 27th APRIL 2026
1.30PM
John Higgins (7) v (9) Ronnie O'Sullivan - Play to Finish
Mark Selby (7) v (9) Wu Yize - Play to Finish
7PM
Chris Wakelin (6) v (10) Neil Robertson Play to Finish
Hossein Vafaei (7) v (9) Judd Trump - Play to Finish
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