O'Sullivan & Brecel race through to quarter-finals

Ronnie O'Sullivan and Luca Brecel both took under 17 minutes to secure the one frame they required to clinch victories and move into the World Championship quarter-finals.

The pair started the evening session 12-4 ahead against Chinese pair Pang Junxu and Ding Junhui respectively.

Brecel, the 2023 winner, was first through with a break of 71 as he took the 17th frame 76-0 to win 13-4 and eliminate 2016 runner-up Ding.

Shortly afterwards, O'Sullivan, 49, on course for a record-breaking eighth Crucible success, won by the same scoreline. He completed a break of 95 after Pang scored the first 17 points of the frame to join Brecel in the last eight.

Belgium's Brecel will now meet 2019 champion Judd Trump in the quarter-finals, while O'Sullivan will play China's Si Jiahui, a world semi-finalist two years ago.

O'Sullivan has now reached the last eight at the Crucible on 23 occasions, to extend the record he already held.

Earlier on Monday, World number one Trump held off Shaun Murphy's fightback to win an epic last-16 tie.

Trump looked set for a routine victory when he led 12-6 but missed a red into the middle pocket and Murphy capitalised by reeling off four frames in a row.

However 2019 champion Trump held his nerve to take the 23rd frame for a 13-10 win.

On Sunday, Trump made the two century breaks he needed to reach the 100-ton mark for the season, an achievement that earned him a £100,000 bonus.

The 35-year-old could become the first player to top £2m in prize money in a single season if he wins the world title, the prize for which is £500,000.

Trump, speaking to BBC Two, said: "Shaun was in a world of his own for four or five frames and I was a little bit worried, but I had to back myself in that last frame.

"In the past I've been a bit hard on myself but I'm a lot stronger mentally and I've learned to appreciate the losses and use them as motivation.

"I'm a lot more confident this year, I'm hitting the ball a lot better. I probably have a bit more belief in myself and I feel a lot more calm."

On his chances of winning a second world title, he added: "Pretty much every single day [you play] now you are looking to that next session every time.

"It's only going to get tougher, we're not even halfway there now. It was an extremely tough draw to be playing Shaun at this stage, with the form he was in."

In the other match in the afternoon session, China's Si Jiahui moved into the quarter-finals thanks to a 13-10 win over England's Ben Woollaston, who had eliminated fourth seed Mark Selby in the first round.

Si reached the semi-finals two years ago, letting a 14-5 lead slip as he lost 17-15 to eventual winner Brecel.

Woollaston, 44th in the world, felt he had missed a glorious opportunity after recovering from 9-7 behind to get it to 10-10, only to lose the last three frames.

He said: "I was 9-7 down and I didn't know how. It was my own fault because there were so many frames I could've won and I should've been 10-6 up.

"From 10-10 he played the best he had in the match. He was then brilliant and some of his long pots were out of this world. It's frustrating as tactically I was all over him the whole match, but I couldn't convert my chances."