Ronnie O’Sullivan continued his relentless winning streak, claiming a 16th consecutive match victory by beating Zhou Yuelong 6-2 at the Johnstone’s Paint Players Championship in Telford.
The Rocket is going for a fourth straight title, having won his last three events at the UK Championship, the Masters and the World Grand Prix.
It’s been a remarkable period for O’Sullivan, who has now extended his record Triple Crown and ranking title tallies to 23 and 41 respectively.
China’s Zhou has suffered two deciding frame losses at the hands of O’Sullivan this season. He started this evening’s encounter strongly by taking a 2-1 advantage.
However, from that point, Zhou faltered. The seven-time World Champion racked up five on the bounce, highlighted by a 136 break, to emerge a 6-2 victor.
Next up O’Sullivan faces an intriguing last eight meeting with either Mark Selby or Barry Hawkins, who play tomorrow afternoon.
Ali Carter scored a 6-2 win over Tom Ford to book a quarter-final showdown with Judd Trump.
Carter has already faced Trump twice this season, having lost the Wuhan Open final 10-7 and beaten the Ace in the Pack 6-5 at the Masters.
“It’s a brilliant game going up against Judd. I’m second favourite, but I’m really looking forward to it, and it is a great match to be involved in” said five-time ranking event winner Carter.
“These events are our prestige tournaments. These ITV events are in second just behind the Triple Crown. The Home Nations events are very difficult, but they seem to suit Gary Wilson. I’m just trying to focus on these big ones and I’m delighted to get the win today.”
Mark Allen crafted a rare 146 break during a dazzling display which saw him beat Mark Williams 6-3 and make the quarter-finals.
The Pistol started the match in blistering form, with the 146 in the opener, followed by breaks of 112 and 102 to storm into a 3-0 lead.
Allen then had the upper hand in the fourth, but Williams came from behind to take it with a break of 71 and trail by two at the mid-session.
When play resumed, Williams further reduced his arrears with 69 to take the fifth and make it 3-2. However, breaks of 94, 70 and 68 helped Allen to take three of the next four to emerge a 6-3 victor and book his place in the quarters.
Allen said: “That was the best I’ve played since winning the Champion of Champions. There was one match at the English Open where I made four centuries, but I didn’t feel in control there. I had a good idea of where it was going to go today, so that’s a good sign.
“When I lost to John Higgins at the Welsh Open last week I was so disheartened with how I played. Not the result because you can lose to John even playing well. I needed to change something. It is probably the only time I’ve ever gone straight on the practice table after I lost to see what I could do.”
Recently crowned Welsh Open champion Gary Wilson continued his momentum with a 6-4 defeat of Iranian number one Hossein Vafaei.
Wilson top scored with 95 in the decisive frame and will now face Allen in the quarter-finals.