Mark Williams records impressive win to move a step closer to Saudi Arabia Masters jackpot

The opening block of last 16 matches in the £2.3 million world ranking event were played on Wednesday afternoon in the Middle East.

Last year’s runner-up Williams was the first player to book a last eight date as he comfortably dispatched Shaun Murphy, 6-1.

Murphy was on a five-match winning streak against Williams, with two of those contests being in ranking event finals (2019 China Championship, 2023 Championship League), but the Welshman put an end to that unwanted sequence in impressive fashion.

World number three Williams took the opening frame before breaks of 69 and 74 helped him establish a 3-0 lead.

Reigning Masters Champion Murphy got on the scoreboard via frame four with the assistance of a 62 break, but on resumption after the mid-session interval, Williams won another three frames in-a-row - striking a 62 in frame five and finishing in style with a 102.

Williams’ opponent on Thursday in the quarter-finals will be world number 29 Elliot Slessor who ousted former World Champion Stuart Bingham, 6-5, in a topsy-turvy tie.

Efforts of 62, 58 and 84 helped Slessor build a 4-1 profit, but Bingham strung together four successive frames (breaks of 57, 68) to go in front for the first time at 5-4 up.

However, Slessor showed why his career is on a consistent upward trajectory as he took the final two frames along with breaks of 51 and 72 to advance.

The 31-year-old Englishman is now guaranteed at least £50,000 for his work in the Middle East this week - that represents the biggest payday of his career, so far.

Ali Carter will face Neil Robertson in the quarter-finals after both cueists progressed from the afternoon programme.

Recent Shanghai Masters runner-up Carter is continuing his great form as he won five successive frames from 3-1 down to eliminate Judd Trump’s conqueror in the previous round, Oli Lines.

World number 68 Lines was sizing up another upset as runs of 61, 59, and 94 during a three-frame streakee aided him to a 3-1 mid-session advantage.

However, momentum dramatically changed after the interval as six-time ranking event winner Carter notched up breaks of 75, 116 and 59 to turn the tables in incredible fashion - not allowing Lines to score a single point in those five frames.

‘The Captain’ racked up 419 unanswered points.

For the second year in-a-row at the Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters, Robertson ended Mark Selby's title hopes.

The Australian won the opening frame but a milestone 119 from Selby levelled up proceedings. This was Selby’s 900th century break in professional competition.

Robertson went 3-1 ahead (breaks of 70, 111), but after the interval Selby crafted runs of 66, 56 and 57 as he took a 4-3 lead.

However, Robertson made an 83 as he restored parity at 4-4, before edging in front and then constructing a 137 to secure a 6-4 win.

In 2008, Robertson won the short-lived Bahrain Championship - so he is going for his second ranking event title triumph within the Arabian Peninsula.

Please visit our 2025 Saudi Arabia Snooker Masters tournament information centre here for the draw, results and other details on the event.