Quarter-final spots clearly in sight for Crucible quartet

Ronnie O’Sullivan, Neil Robertson, Judd Trump and Shaun Murphy – who collectively have won the Crucible title seven times – all stand on the verge of the last eight.

Five-time world champion O’Sullivan needs just one more frame this evening to beat Welshman Matthew Stevens – who knocked out Mark Williams earlier in the tournament – as he sits on a 12-4 overnight advantage.

Australian Robertson, another former champion, needs two frames to convert his 11-5 lead over Ali Carter when they also resume tonight.

The Essex potter won the final two frames of the sesson to avoid defeat inside two of the allocated three sessions.

2011 runner-up Trump has a 10-6 advantage over Marco Fu, and that was only a four-frame deficit after the Hong Kong potter battled back from 9-3 down in last night’s second session in their best-of-25 contest.

If Trump wins, Sheffield-based Ding Junhui awaits in the quarter-finals after the 28-year-old beat John Higgins on Saturday in their second-round match.

Murphy, the 2005 champion, was in impressive form to waltz into a 12-4 lead over Joe Perry.

Both Murphy’s match, and Trump’s, resume at one o’clock this afternoon.

If Murphy, 32, wins, he will face qualifier Anthony McGill in the quarter-finals, the Glaswegian having stunned the defending champion Mark Selby in the second round.

The one-sided scorelines mean there is the possibilty only seven frames of snooker could be played across all four scheduled matches today.

Already in the quarter-finals are Stuart Bingham – who beat Graeme Dott 13-5 – and Barry Hawkins, who won the last five frames to beat Mark Allen 13-11.

Hawkins is hoping for an easier ride in the quarter-finals.

“I’ve won my first two matches 10-9 and 13-11 and used up a lot of energy,” he said.

“Last year I was wiped out by the semi-finals so I might need to win my next match 13-0 to have a chance of going any further.

“I’ll need to play better in the next round, especially if it’s against Neil Robertson,” he said.

World No 10 Bingham says he is just enjoying his Crucible success.

“To beat someone of Graeme’s level 13-5 at the Crucible is an unbelievable feeling,” said Bingham

“Before I went out I felt the nerves kick in. Then I made a good break in the first frame and a sort of calmness came over me, and that carried on throughout the match.”