Mark Selby set up a mouthwatering quarter-final clash with Ronnie O'Sullivan at the Players Championship, thanks to a 6-3 victory over Barry Hawkins on Wednesday.
Selby and O'Sullivan have enjoyed a tremendous rivalry throughout their careers, but the former will be desperate to improve on a surprisingly modest record in this particular event, and on a quiet season so far.
In what is a welcome return to form, the four-time world champion looked much more like his old self here, making five breaks of fifty-plus as he recovered from 2-0 down to eventually run out a convincing winner.
Hawkins began really well, a break of 78 in frame two highlighting a fine start, but Selby dug in to win the next two frames, and though Hawkins won frame five to lead again, that would be his final moment of cheer.
Runs of 56 and 66 turned the match on its head as Selby led for the first time and he continued to grow stronger as the afternoon wore on, Hawkins failing to register a single point in the last two frames as his opponent ruthlessly finished the job with further breaks of 75 and 67.
“Barry was getting on top of me from the start, I started off slow and Barry’s had a good season so far,” Selby told ITV4.
“It was a tough game for me because you’re playing one of the top players on form and he’s also a good friend so it’s hard to try to overcome both of them.”
Looking ahead to Thursday’s quarter-final with O’Sullivan, Selby joked: “It gets easier next game doesn’t it?
“I cherish every game I play against Ronnie so I’m really looking forward to that. If I play like I did after the interval with that authority and that confidence, then I’ll go into the match with a chance.
“You know what you’re going to get with Ronnie, he very rarely plays to a bad level.
“It’s either very good or unplayable so it makes your job a lot easier going into the match because you know you have to turn up and, if you don’t, you’re going home.”
Selby will face O'Sullivan, who cruised past Zhou Yuelong on Tuesday, at 7pm Thursday.
On the second table, Zhang Anda held his nerve to beat Noppon Saengkham 6-5.
In a match of fluctuating fortunes, Zhang rallied well from 5-4 down to force a deciding frame, before winning the match with a nerveless run of 65.
