Quarter-finals set in Belfast as Jordan Brown tees up blockbuster showdown with compatriot Mark Allen

World number 55 Brown defeated the in-form Shaun Murphy 4-2 on Thursday night in Belfast to reach the last eight of a professional tournament for the first time in nearly two years.

Having won his opening two matches at the Waterfront Hall in recent days both by 4-0 whitewash scorelines, Brown stretched his unblemished record further as breaks of 70 and 61 helped him build a 2-0 lead before also taking the third frame to stand on the cusp of an upset.

However, newly-minted British Open champion Murphy - who was aiming to reach a third consecutive final on the circuit - rallied with runs of 135 and 55 as he reduced the gap to just one.

‘The Magician’ was favourite to force a decider as he crafted a 55 in frame six, but Brown - roared on by local support - kept his cool, clearing from green to pink to complete an emotional and memorable victory.

Former Welsh Open champion Brown has endured a difficult 18 months on the sport’s top flight but has found something at his home tournament over the past few days.

Speaking to TNT Sports after the match, a delighted Brown said: "Absolutely over the moon. I was really up for it tonight. Crowd behind me. Everything about it was mad.

"I played so solid to go 3-0 up, and then I started to make a couple of mistakes, but Shaun played really well.

"When he got back to 3-2, he put me under a little bit, but I just stayed patient, disciplined, waited for my chance to come along, and that's what you have to do at this game."

The 38-year-old will now prepare for the fourth ranking event quarter-final of his career, and it comes against fellow Antrim cueist Allen. The all-Northern Irish clash will take place on Friday evening and promises to be a very special occasion.

Earlier in the day, Allen dismissed the Republic of Ireland’s number one Aaron Hill 4-1 to continue his 100% record on this season’s Home Nations Series having won the English Open last month. The former world number one has now won nine matches out of nine.

Allen and Brown have met just once before on snooker’s top tier; the former scored a 6-4 victory in the last 32 of the 2022 UK Championship - an event he went on to win.

Elsewhere during Thursday evening’s session, reigning champion Kyren Wilson kept his title defence on track with a 4-2 victory against He Guoqiang.

World number two Wilson notched up efforts of 63, 75, 77 and 53 as he made it through to his second ranking event quarter-final of the season.

Wilson will face Jack Lisowski in the last eight after ‘Jack-Pot’ dismissed fellow quick cueist Thepchaiya Un-Nooh 4-2 along with breaks of 57, 94 and 76.

The other quarter-finals to take place on Friday are Judd Trump v John Higgins and Tom Ford v Zhou Yuelong

Visit our tournament information centre here for details on the 2025 Northern Ireland Open including the draw, results, schedule and how to watch.