European Masters Snooker 2022 | Quarter-Finals Preview and Order of Play

Jamie Shaw in European Masters 25 February 2022

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Ronnie O’Sullivan eases into European Masters Quarter-Finals

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Ronnie O’Sullivan v Tom Ford live stream | European Masters 2022 preview

O’Sullivan has pulled out of the WST Classic (Photo by Martin Rickett/PA Images)

The Quarter-Finals take centre stage at the 2022 European Masters in Milton Keynes on Friday with a host of decorated stars in contention.

Sixty-four came, now just eight remain in the running to claim the £80,000 top prize at the Marshall Arena this weekend.

The four Quarter-Final ties are split over two sessions, with two tables in action simultaneously.

The afternoon session features a clash between former World Champion Graeme Dott and three-time ranking event winner Ryan Day.

Day is appearing in his second successive ranking Quarter-Final, having lost at this stage of the German Masters earlier this month, and is enjoying a welcomed spell of resurgence at this crucial stage of the season.

The Welshman has seen off Jamie O’Neill, Ashley Carty and Sunny Akani en route to the Last Eight and now comes up against ‘The Pocket Dynamo’ for the first time in a ranked event since the 2015 Shanghai Masters.

Dott had failed to qualify for four of the last five ranking tournaments in what has been a season to forget so far by his standards, but wins over Mark Davis and Zhou Yuelong in deciding frames, followed by a 5-2 success over Welsh Open champion Jordan Brown look to have breathed new life into his campaign.

Championship League winner David Gilbert takes on in-form emerging star Fan Zhengyi in another intriguing tie.

Gilbert is appearing at this stage of the competition for the first time in five attempts and is into his fifth ranking Quarter-Final of the season courtesy of deciding frame wins over Liam Highfield and Barry Hawkins and a 5-3 defeat of Pang Junxu.

Having reached his first major Quarter-Final at the German Masters a matter of weeks ago, 21-year-old Fan has continued his superb spell of form in Milton Keynes.

The Chinese ace overcame Aaron Hill in the Last 64 before knocking out fifth seed Kyren Wilson and 12th seed Yan Bingtao to underline his credentials and remain in contention for a fairy-tale first title.

The evening session features a show-down between title favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan and an in-form Tom Ford.

O’Sullivan has won five of their six previous meetings, including the Semi-Finals of the 2018 UK Championship, and is eyeing a place in a fourth ranking Semi-Final of the season.

The six-time World Champion, who picked up the World Grand Prix title in December, has taken advantage of the departure of a number of big names in his section of the draw, defeating Nigel Bond, Zhang Anda, Wu Yize and Ashley Hugill with four centuries to his name.

Ford, meanwhile, finds himself in a second ranking Quarter-Final of the season, notably pulling off a sensational 5-0 whitewash of John Higgins in the Last 32, sandwiched between 5-3 wins over Ian Burns and Fraser Patrick.

The other tie in the bottom section of the draw sees former English Open winner Liang Wenbo come up against former Indian Open champion Anthony McGill.

Liang, semi-finalist in the Shoot-Out and Championship League this season, has seen off Duane Jones, Noppon Saengkham and Yuan Sijun on the outside tables this week.

McGill, meanwhile, is out to match his run to the Semi-Finals of the Scottish Open earlier this season, having dropped only four frames in dispatching Hossein Vafaei, Mitchell Mann and Kurt Maflin.

The action gets under way from 2.30pm GMT, with Quarter-Final matches to be contested over the best of nine frames.

WATCH DAY FIVE OF THE EUROPEAN MASTERS STREAMED LIVE HERE (18+)