On what turned out to be one of the most dramatic days seen at the Crucible Theatre, John Higgins, Neil Robertson, Wu Yize, and Hossein Vafaei became the last four players to book their places in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Halo World Snooker Championship.
Leading at various stages 6-2, 8-3, and 9-4, it looked at one point as if O'Sullivan would storm to a runaway victory and the possibility of winning with a session to spare before Higgins, as he has so often done in the past, dusted himself down and showed true grit and determination, first, to come out of the second session on Sunday evening just 9-7 down and then, by outplaying O'Sullivan in Monday afternoon's dramatic concluding session to clinch victory on the final frame and come out as a 13-12 victory. After shaking hands with his fellow 'Class of 92' legend, Higgins punched the air with obvious delight as he left the arena and now faces a quarter-final clash with the 'Thunder from Down Under' Neil Robertson.
Robertson had by far the smoothest passage of all four winners on Monday, defeating Scottish Open winner Chris Wakelin 13-7. Going into the concluding session on Monday evening leading 10-6, Wakelin took the first frame of the session before Robertson swiftly won the three frames he required for victory, beginning with a break of 104 and finishing with breaks of 69 and 82 to face what should be another enthralling match with the Wizard of Wishaw.
While Robertson will be delighted by progressing through to the last eight, Mark Selby was absolutely scathing with the conditions of the table as he exited the championship, being defeated 13-11 by the extremely impressive Wu Yize. Yize, leading 9-7 overnight, took the opening frame of the session before Selby took the next two, the two players then shared the next four frames before Yize got over the line, making a break of 53 to reach the last eight of the World Championship for the first time. Selby was clearly furious in his post-match interview, claiming that the conditions were as bad as Selby had ever experienced at the Crucible. However, World Snooker Tour later responded by stating that their experienced table fitters work to deliver the best possible conditions and that they constantly monitor how the tables are playing.
The day of drama was completed on Monday evening when Iran's Hossein Vafaei stunned world number one Judd Trump in a deciding frame to confirm his place in the quarter-finals and leaving Trump still with just the one world title to his name. Trump had never been able to take firm control of the match and pull away from his opponent, being level at 4-4 after the first session and only taking a 9-7 lead heading into the concluding session. Trump took the first frame of the evening before Vafaei, who has impressed many with his performances at the Crucible this year, stunned Trump by taking four successive frames before Trump seemed to be heading into the quarter-final, taking the next two frames to lead 12-11, before Vafaei made a stunning break of 106 to take the match to a decider. After Trump had broken down, the Iranian took control and headed into the quarter-final with a break of 91.
ORDER OF PLAY - TUESDAY 28th APRIL 2026
QUARTER-FINAL
10AM
Zhao Xintong v Shaun Murphy
Mark Allen v Barry Hawkins
2.30PM
John Higgins v Neil Robertson
Wu Yize v Hossein Vafaei
7PM
Zhao Xintong v Shaun Murphy (second session)
Mark Allen v Barry Hawkins (second session)
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