 Walden looking to repeat his Chinese glory after winning in 2008 |
Defending champion Ricky Walden made the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals with a 5-1 win over Stephen Hendry. The 26-year-old raced into a 4-0 lead over the former world champion and kept his nerve to set up a clash with local favourite Liang Wenbo. China's Wenbo crushed Allister Carter 5-0, while top seed Ronnie O'Sullivan progressed with a comfortable 5-2 victory against Hong Kong's Marco Fu. Shaun Murphy, Ken Doherty, Ding Junhui, Ryan Day and John Higgins also won. Despite Walden's impressive start to the match with Scotland's Hendry, last year's winner remained focused against an opponent who had already recovered from a 4-0 deficit to win this week in China. "I was feeling the pressure a bit, you get a different feeling when you get near the line and you know Hendry can reel off frame after frame," Walden said. Walden's next opponent, Wenbo, had an excellent day after whitewashing former World Championship finalist Carter 5-0.  | 606: DEBATE |
World number one O'Sullivan had few problems in beating Fu and will next face another highly talented Chinese star in Ding, who beat Stuart Bingham 5-2. "I've always wanted to play Ding in China, he's a class act and the number one player here so to play him in front of his fans will be great," O'Sullivan said. Former world champion Murphy was in stunning form as he rattled past Jamie Cope without dropping a frame in 76 minutes, making breaks of 106 and 133. Murphy will play Doherty, who reached his first ranking quarter-final in more than two years by squeezing past Barry Hawkins in a final-frame decider. Current world champion Higgins eased past Mark Williams 5-1 to set up a last-eight clash with Welshman Day, who easily beat compatriot Matthew Stevens by the same scoreline.
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