UK Championship: Zhang Anda stuns world champion  Zhao Xintong to reach quarter-finals in York

The two Chinese potters live in Sheffield and train at the city’s Victoria Snooker Academy.

And while the global spotlight has been on Zhao since his world title joy in May, it was Zhang – who has dropped out of the top 16 and was forced to enter the qualifiers to reach York – who secured a quarter-final spot after a 6-2 victory at a packed Barbican.

“We train every day together, so know each other very well,” said Zhao. “Today, I sometimes missed the easy shots and I never miss them.

“Zhang played very well. When he plays well he can beat anyone.”

China’s first world champion Zhao won a scrappy opening frame, but it was Zhang who was left kicking himself for not leading at the mid-session interval

Zhang produced back-to-back century breaks – 127 and 129, 256 unanswered points – and looked set for a third successive frame.

But the 33-year-old missed a brown off its spot, plus a red into the centre pocket when on a promising break of 24 – with the remaining reds opened up – as Zhao punished his opponent with a clearance of 68 to restore parity at 2-2.

Zhang – who came from 5-3 down to beat Gary Wilson 6-5 in the opening round – came out after the interval with an 87 break to edge back in front, before taking the next to make it 4-2.

The Crucible winner was on a promising break of 42 before a missed red. He had another opportunity after a superb long-range red, only to miss the black off its spot, allowing Zhang in for a 69 clearance.

A break of 73 made it 5-2, before clinching victory and a quarter-final against either John Higgins or Shaun Murphy on Friday.

“Today was very good,” said Zhang. “In the first session I made two centuries and it was very good from me. But the score was still 2-2.

“After the 15-minute break – in the fourth frame I missed some simple shots – I told myself just ‘forget that, I am still playing well, I can beat him’.

“We are best friends, we practice, we are very close. I enjoyed it.”

Zhang has good recent memories of York, having reached the quarter-finals for a third successive season.

He lost to Iran’s Hossein Vafaei in 2023, before a last-eight defeat to eventual winner Judd Trump 12 months ago.

“I like the UK Championship, my third quarter-final,” he said. “I hope this time I can go further. “

Twelve out of the 32 players who set-out at the Barbican were from China, over half – seven – making it through the first round.

Joining Zhang in the quarter-finals are countrymen Pang Junxu and Ding Junhui.

Three-time UK champion Ding will play defending champion Trump, after fending off a fightback from Scott Donaldson to win 6-5.

Ding, who is also a two-time runner-up at the event, looked set to cruise through after a break of 114 helped him take a 3-0 lead.

But world No 52 Donaldson responded impressively with a knock of 118 and then battled back from 5-3 down to force a final frame.

The 31-year-old led by 22 points in the decider before Ding produced a superb long pot to launch a match-winning break of 109.

Pang, 25, faces Neil Robertson in Friday’s last eight, after beating Mark Williams 6-3.

“A lot of Chinese players have achieved very good results this season, including Xiao Guodong winning a ranking title,” said Pang. “We practise together often, and seeing them lift trophies is very motivating for me. That inspires us to improve and hopefully win titles ourselves.

“Neil Robertson has been playing well this season. I’ve played him many times before, with wins and losses. Facing him always excites me — his style of play brings the best out of me. I hope our match will be a great one.”

Robertson – who arrived in York having not won a match here since he won the third of his UK titles in 2020 – knocked out China’s Wu Yize 6-1 in the previous round.

Robertson, 43, said: “I'm expecting tougher challenges ahead. There are a lot of great players still in the event and a lot of previous winners. I'm really pleased with the progress so far.”