Zhao Xintong fights back to level quarter-final against Shaun Murphy at Crucible

Zhao Xintong battled back to draw level with Shaun Murphy in a thrilling evening of quarter-final action in the world championship at the Crucible. Zhao, the defending champion, showed his ruthless streak to finish the session with a flourish as the rivals ended deadlocked at 8-8 – the same scoreline for the night’s other last-eight showdown between Mark Allen and Barry Hawkins.

Murphy entered the session with a 5-3 lead after recovering from losing the first three frames and he showed his mettle with a clearance of 59 that prevented Zhao from drawing level. Zhao potted three reds with one shot off the rest in the 11th and he was in full swing as he amassed 129 points in two visits to the table without reply.

Both players set a brisk pace but Murphy still had the edge with a pinpoint break of 90 capturing the next frame. Zhao cannoned a red into the pocket but the 12th frame became increasingly tactical and Murphy came off worse during a series of safeties, giving his opponent the platform to finish strongly with a long yellow catching the eye.

It was an impressive comeback from Zhao but both players were guilty of missing routine shots as the 13th became nip-and-tuck before Murphy eventually pulled clear with a timely 65. Zhao pounced on an error by the 2005 world champion to fire a break of 117 and, now only 8-7 behind, he had the last frame of the session to tie the score heading into Wednesday’s session.

Murphy missed a comfortable red and then spent time plotting his route out of a nasty snooker, failing with two attempts before Zhao cleared when he next visited the table with brilliant red and showboating black the highlights.

There was also no separating Hawkins and Allen as a remarkable finish to their session contained three century breaks. Hawkins resumed 5-3 ahead and was in full flight as he compiled a break of 96 to build a three-frame lead, but he could not pull clear of the Northern Irishman who then produced a break of 138 in the 13th frame to underline his resilience.

Hawkins responded with a superb 140, equalling the highest break seen at this year’s tournament. The drama continued when Allen won the next two frames, with a classy 131 the latest twist in a match that looks destined to go down to the wire.

In the day’s other quarter-finals, Neil Robertson ended a tense afternoon session with a 5-3 lead over John Higgins and Hossein Vafaei fought back to draw level 4-4 with Wu Yize.