Ronnie O'Sullivan, who hasn't lost since November, kept his tremendous winning run going with a thrilling 4-3 success against Zhou Yuelong to reach the quarter-finals of the Spreadex World Grand Prix.
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O'Sullivan's last defeat came against Zhang Anda in the semi-finals of the International Championship more than two months ago - since then he has won 11 consecutive matches, a streak which has given him the UK Championship and Masters titles. Now in the hunt for a 41st ranking crown, he delighted the crowd in Leicester today in a superb match which included two centuries and seven more breaks over 50.
The Rocket is through to his 141st ranking event quarter-final and his next opponent, on Friday at 1pm, will be another player in form: Scottish Open champion Gary Wilson who saw off Tom Ford 4-2.
A marvellous 67 clearance gave O'Sullivan the opening frame today, then a 107 put him 2-0 ahead. China's Zhou responded in kind as a 76 clearance gave him frame three, then a run of 102 made it 2-2. The fifth came down to the last red and Zhou failed to escape from a tricky snooker, handing his opponent the chance to go 3-2 ahead. Breaks of 65 and 56 got Zhou back to 3-3, but he missed a tricky red to a centre pocket early in the decider, and O'Sullivan was typically clinical in a match-winning 90.
Wallsend's Wilson compiled breaks of 121, 75 and 68 as he got the better of Ford. It's an important result for Wilson in terms of his position on the one-year ranking list as he currently lies tenth, and if he's still in the top 12 after March's World Open then he'll qualify for the Tour Championship for the first time.
"I am happier technically now than I was this time last year," said Wilson. "If I can get my cue action right then something clicks for me. If I can keep winning and playing as many matches as I can then that builds confidence. Last season I just missed out on the Tour Championship and I was gutted, but I'm not looking at rankings now because that just creates extra pressure. I don't mind playing Ronnie next because I always just play the table rather than worrying about my opponent."
UK Championship runner-up Ding Junhui eased to a 4-1 win over Noppon Saengkham with a top break of 101. He now faces a Chinese derby against Zhang Anda, a repeat of their International Championship quarter-final which Zhang won 6-3.
Today, Zhang kept his best-ever season going with a 4-2 defeat of Mark Allen. A break of 95 helped give Zhang a 3-0 lead, and he wrapped up the match in frame six after Allen had pulled two back. The result leaves Allen with work to do over the next two events to guarantee a place at February's Players Championship.