By Chris Slegg and Dave McIntyre BBC Ceefax in York

Peter Ebdon 9-4 Robert Milkins

Peter Ebdon set up a semi-final encounter with Mark Williams by ending Robert Milkins' dream run at The Barbican.

Click here to watch Peter Ebdon's win

Ebdon won five frames in a row to seal a 9-4 victory over the world number 33 and conqueror of Matthew Stevens.

Ebdon began superbly, recording breaks of 104 and 75 on the way to taking three of the first four frames, before Milkins recovered to level at 4-4.

But in the second session Ebdon stepped up a gear, hitting breaks of 78 and 101 as the gulf in class finally showed.

Ebdon backed Milkins to make a name for himself at the top level after sending the Gloucester man out of the competition.

"I think we will see a lot more of him in the future," said Ebdon.

"He's a very good player and is not just the crazy potter some people seem to think he is.

"He played a lot of good safety and made it tough for me.

"All credit to him. I would not be surprised to see him knocking on the door of the top 16."

But Milkins was hugely critical of his own performance and suggested he was fortunate to be in the last eight in the first place.

He said: "I played terribly. I didn't play well in the afternoon and then in the second session, I played my worst snooker. I just couldn't score.

"I'm obviously happy because it was my first quarter-final, but I'm unhappy with the way I played.

"To be honest I think I've been lucky because I didn't play well against Matthew Stevens in the last round.

"Before that I beat Nigel Bond and since then I've had chances - more chances than you even get in qualifying - and haven't taken them."

Frame scores: (Ebdon first) 104-4 (104) 134-0 (55, 75) 14-87 70-36 46-69 (68) 39-66 (51) 64-40 9-63 85-30 59-38 64-15 (59) 101-31 (101) 78-0 (78)