Zhang stuns Zhao & Murphy beats Higgins in decider

Zhang Anda won the UK Championship by beating Zhao Xintong 6-2 to advance to the last eight.

Shaun Murphy will face the 33-year-old, who has now advanced to three straight quarter-finals in York.

In a dramatic decider, Englishman Murphy defeated John Higgins 6-5, coming from 4-1 and 5-3 down, and he hailed it as “one of his best victories.”

Zhang struck backwards as the first four frames of the all-Chinese meeting were shared, losing the opening frame.

However, Zhao’s compatriot harshly punished him when play resumed following the break because he had been guilty of missing several routine pots.

Zhang finished off his victory in a grueling eighth frame with breaks of 87, 69, and 73 and was nearly faultless among the balls.

There were three frames in which Xintong scored a lot, and I did not play well. Zhang told BBC Sport, “It was my day.”

“I made two centuries in the first session, and it was very good stuff from me. I made a few quick shots in the fourth frame, but I kept telling myself to forget because I’m playing well and can defeat him.

Zhang’s desire to play his boyhood hero Higgins next appeared to be apparent for the majority of Thursday night’s show.

The Scot, who won the second of his two UK crowns in 2010, put together two breaks of 70 plus a 78 and a 60 to take command of a respectable 4-1 lead.

After making errors from the reigning Masters champion, who had appeared to be winning both frames, he took the third and fifth frames of the series.

However, after Higgins missed the yellow to the top right corner, Murphy was able to reclaim the match and make his highest break of the Championship, a 53, in order to obstruct an 11th frame.

Murphy remarked, “It’s the old cliche of one ball at a time.”

Ding Junhui, a three-time UK champion, made a superb century break to defeat Scotland’s Scott Donaldson 6-5.

In the following round, Ding will face Judd Trump, and Barry Hawkins will face Mark Selby after he defeated Elliot Slessor 6-0.

The beaten finalist from 12 months ago, world number 14 Hawkins, was too good for a man who was only seven spots below him in the rankings and made 94, 87, and 73 breaks as he made steady progress.

Donaldson, 31, struggled to settle in the first frame, his match paused briefly during the first frame as a spectator fell ill, and then thrashed Mark Allen in what he admitted was an emotional night following the death of his father Hector in October.

When the game ended, Ding scored the opening run with a half-century before adding runs of 114 and 76.

Donaldson rallied for three frames, winning with breaks of 118, 50, and 69.

And Donaldson kept fighting, creating breaks of 81 and 72 while Ding took the eighth frame.

After his opponent had played safe on 22, Ding delivered the coup de grace from a superb long red in the decider.

Ding said, “I just wanted to take it when I saw the chance.”

He is a good player and has talent. Because our lives differ, I’m unsure what has occurred. I only want him to move on because of what he demonstrated in the final three frames.

Donaldson continued, “The fight was good. When the pressure is really high, these powerful people follow suit. When I was 22 years old, I probably should have opted for a red. In hindsight, I suppose you have to take so many crazy risks to defeat these guys.

Zhang was still regarded as the outlier going into this competition despite Zhao’s defeat at their only previous competitive meeting ten years ago.

Both have careers with different companies, despite having the same Sheffield academy.

Zhao, who won the UK title in 2021 and Zhang, who has slipped out of the top 16 in the world rankings, has gained “megastar” status as the first Chinese player to win at the Crucible in May.

He was one of 10 Chinese players sanctioned in 2023 as a result of a match-fixing investigation and received a 20-month ban, which is even more impressive.

Zhao remarked, “He played really well.

We practice together every day, so we are well-known, but occasionally I missed some quick shots that I never forget, which is fine.