World Snooker Championship 2016 Results: Quarter-Final Scores, Updated Schedule
World No. 1 Mark Selby opened up a 6-2 lead over qualifier Kyren Wilson in the first session of their World Championship quarter-final at the Crucible on Tuesday, and he maintained his lead during the evening session, going up 10-6.
Dung Junhui crushed Mark Williams, taking a 6-2 lead into the evening session and cruising to a 13-3 win and a spot in the semi-finals.
Marco Fu cruised to a 7-1 lead over Barry Hawkins, who beat Ronnie O'Sullivan in the last round, and John Higgins ended his first session leading Alan McManus 5-3.
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Read on for a full recap of the action and the schedule for Wednesday.
| Morning Session (10 a.m. BST) | Best of 25 frames | |
| Mark Selby | 6-2 | Kyren Wilson |
| Mark Williams | 2-6 | Ding Junhui |
| Afternoon Session (2:30 p.m. BST) | ||
| John Higgins | 5-3 | Alan McManus |
| Marco Fu | 7-1 | Barry Hawkins |
| Evening Session (7 p.m. BST) | ||
| Mark Selby | 10-6 | Kyren Wilson |
| Mark Williams | 3-13 | Ding Junhui |
| Morning Session (10 a.m. BST) | Best of 25 frames | |
| John Higgins | 5-3 | Alan McManus |
| Mark Selby | 10-6 | Kyren Wilson |
| Afternoon Session (2:30 p.m. BST) | ||
| Barry Hawkins | 1-7 | Marco Fu |
| Evening Session (7 p.m. BST) | ||
| John Higgins | 5-3 | Alan McManus |
| Barry Hawkins | 1-7 | Marco Fu |
Evening Recap
Ding moved one step closer to becoming the first Asian player to win the world championship on Tuesday, as he put together his most dominant showing of the tournament so far, surrendering just a single frame during the evening session against Williams.
As shared by World Snooker, he had no intention of returning to the table for a third session, finishing off his opponent in a hurry:
He started the session with a break of 109, his only century of the match, and he never looked back. Williams would steal one more scrappy frame, but the rest of the night consisted of one-way traffic, as Ding strung together several high breaks.
The aforementioned 109 was the prettiest, but he added breaks of 95, 76, 73 and 68, leaving Williams no chance.
Per Matt of ProSnookerBlog, he told reporters he's happy with his unexpected day off:
Ding entered the world championship in arguably the worst form of his career, falling out of the top 16 and needing to go through qualifying just to make it to the Crucible Theatre. Perhaps that setback was just what he needed, as he's playing some of his best snooker and will like his chances of finally winning his first world title.
Selby maintained his four-leg lead over Wilson, using his experience on the biggest stage to his benefit. The Warrior had several chances to close the gap, best evidenced by an odd final frame in which both players missed routine shots and ended up in a snooker-battle on the colours.
Neither player got their pot-success percentage over 90, although Wilson improved on his high break with an 87. Selby sits in the driver's seat heading into the third and final session, and the former champion should progress to the next round.
Afternoon Recap
Hawkins endured a nightmare start to his quarter-final clash with Fu, missing routine shots and playing some dreadful snooker in their first session. The Hawk would end up winning just one of eight frames and has a mountain to climb to get back in this match.
Fu has been in fine form of late and played well on Tuesday, but the lopsided score after the first session had more to do with Hawkins. As shared by World Snooker, he was well off on some of his routine pots:
His opponent opened with a 73 break and quickly realised Hawkins wasn't himself on Tuesday, and Fu took full advantage. He reverted to simple, safety-based snooker and easily won the tactical battles, building his lead with smaller breaks. Fu didn't make a single century and finished with a high break of 81, but he'll be more than delighted with the six-frame lead.
He made some fine shots along the way, including this perfect plant, via World Snooker:
Higgins grabbed an early lead before dropping three straight frames against McManus, who impressed with breaks of 114, 78 and 56. The four-time champion barely got any time on the table, but his fortunes improved after the mid-session interval.
He grabbed a tactical frame before tying things up with a break of 51, and he produced another fine break, this time of 75, to edge ahead of McManus.
Higgins' showings at the Crucible Theatre have been thoroughly disappointing these last few years, but the veteran has played some excellent snooker in the past few days and has a good chance of adding a fifth title to his resume. He'll have to clean up his positional play, however, as master technicians like Selby and Ding will punish poor safety play.
Morning Recap
Selby claimed the first two frames in tactical fashion, grinding Wilson down as the pair exchanged small breaks and safety play.
He produced his first score of any real note in the third frame and looked primed for a century before he ran out of position on 69.
Wilson did his best to get back in the frame with some decent snookers behind the pink and then the green, but Selby moved 3-0 ahead despite going in-off from the second of his escapes.
The 2014 world champion then did rack up a ton as he won the fourth frame with a 101 visit—including a brilliant double on the 10th red after he ran out of position—to reach the mid-session interval 4-0 ahead, per Live Snooker:
Things got no better for Wilson, 24, after the break as he broke down on 56 as he looked to make his first frame-winning contribution of the match.
Selby's 45 visit got him back into the frame, and he then stole it to move 5-0 ahead after winning the snookering battle with Wilson.
An excellent break of 99 gave the Jester another frame before Wilson finally got on the scoreboard in a cagey seventh, finishing with a flourish after Selby failed to get the necessary snooker to steal.
The final frame of the session was another tactical exchange, and the longest of the match by some distance. Selby was unable to win in one visit despite being the first in the balls.
A safety battle ensued on the green with Wilson 58-52 in front, and the youngster showed excellent mental strength to prevail and cut Selby's lead to four frames.
Ding and Williams' contest was tight early on, the pair sharing the opening four frames as neither could stretch out a lead—an excellent escape from the Chinese player in the third frame was one of the highlights, per World Snooker:
But Ding, in the last eight following his second-round defeat of well-fancied Judd Trump, showed his class after the mid-session interval, winning four consecutive frames with half-century contributions.
Williams had his own opportunities to get more frames on the board but couldn't quite deliver.
He now has a huge challenge on his hands to make a comeback in the second session as Ding looks in fine form having come through three qualifying rounds this year to make it to the Crucible.
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