Shaun Murphy and Ding Junhui are the highest seeds left in the 2025 World Open draw with the field down to its last 16 in Yushan.
The respective eighth and ninth seeds of the competition will go head-to-head on Wednesday for a berth in the quarter-finals.
Murphy, who compiled a 147 break in the previous round, continued his fine form with a 5-0 thrashing of Thepchaiya Un-Nooh on day three in China.
The Magician tallied runs of 138, 94, 94, 85, and 83 to whitewash Un-Nooh for the second time in as many months, having eclipsed the Thai by the same margin at the recent German Masters in Berlin.
Murphy will likely face a much sterner challenge in the next round in the form of home favourite Ding.
The 2024 runner-up had a difficult outing with Hossein Vafaei in the last 32 but eventually prevailed with a 5-3 defeat of the Iranian.
Masters champion Murphy and International Championship winner Ding are among just five top-16 members who remain in the hunt for glory in the 2025 World Open draw.
Two of the others are also in the top half with Barry Hawkins and Ali Carter recording dramatic 5-4 triumphs over Ben Woollaston and Jack Lisowski respectively.
Hawkins will play Ryan Day – a 5-2 winner against Louis Heathcote – while Carter is next in action against David Lilley, who stunned Wu Yize in a deciding frame.
In the same section is Joe O’Connor, who produced a fine display to see off an out-of-sorts Judd Trump with a 5-2 scoreline.
O’Connor encounters Michael Holt on Wednesday with a spot in the last eight up for grabs.
John Higgins, meanwhile, is the only competitor from the elite bracket of the world rankings who is still in contention in the bottom half of the draw.
The Scot hasn’t won a ranking event since 2021 but is well positioned to make a serious challenge this week.
Higgins will next do battle with Zhou Yuelong, who squandered a 4-0 lead before eventually pipping world champion Kyren Wilson in a ninth-frame shoot out.
Elsewhere, Tom Ford and Jimmy Robertson will clash in a match between a couple of single-time ranking event winners.
There is an all-Chinese showdown between Pang Junxu and Xu Si, while Liu Hongyu’s reward for reversing a 4-1 deficit to Elliot Slessor is a date with the world number 89, Zak Surety.
All of the last 16 matches take place on Wednesday with sessions again starting at 6am and 11:30am UTC.
2025 World Open Draw
Round of 32 (Results)
Joe O’Connor 5-2 Judd Trump
Michael Holt 5-1 Antoni Kowalski
Ding Junhui 5-3 Hossein Vafaei
Shaun Murphy 5-0 Thepchaiya Un-Nooh
David Lilley 5-4 Wu Yize
Ali Carter 5-4 Jack Lisowski
Barry Hawkins 5-4 Ben Woollaston
Ryan Day 5-2 Louis Heathcote
Liu Hongyu 5-4 Elliot Slessor
Zak Surety 5-4 Duane Jones
Tom Ford 5-3 Daniel Wells
Jimmy Robertson 5-4 Aaron Hill
Pang Junxu 5-3 Tian Pengfei
Xu Si 5-3 Stan Moody
John Higgins 5-3 Robbie Williams
Zhou Yuelong 5-4 Kyren Wilson
Round of 16 (bo9)
Matches to take place on Wednesday, February 26th
Joe O’Connor vs Michael Holt
Ding Junhui vs Shaun Murphy
David Lilley vs Ali Carter
Barry Hawkins vs Ryan Day
Liu Hongyu vs Zak Surety
Tom Ford vs Jimmy Robertson
Pang Junxu vs Xu Si
John Higgins vs Zhou Yuelong
Click here for the latest results and scores
(snooker.org)
Featured photo credit: WST
