Chinese debutant Liang Wenbo booked a showdown with Ronnie O'Sullivan with a dramatic victory over Joe Swail on Monday night.
Perry into last eight
Chinese potter Liang Wenbo booked a quarter-final date with Ronnie O'Sullivan as he held off a spirited comeback from Joe Swail to record a nail-biting 13-12 victory at the Crucible.
In a dramatic final session which had absolutely everything, Swail came back from the brink of defeat as he produced a match-saving snooker with just pink and black left on the table to take the score to 12-11.
Prior to one of the most dramatic frames the Crucible has ever witnessed, Liang snatched the initiative as he won three out of the first four frames to soar into a 12-8 lead at the start of the session.
However, Swail refused to let his Chinese opponent over the line and back-to-back centuries from the Irishman set the nerves jangling throughout the World Championship debutant.
Nerve
When Liang sunk the blue in the 23rd frame he and his supporters celebrated what they thought was a guaranteed last eight meeting with the world number one.
But after missing the following pink, Swail jumped from his chair and produced a snooker which Liang failed to negotiate, and after potting both the pink and black the 'Outlaw' reduced the deficit to 12-11.
Swail held his nerve in the penultimate frame with a break of 66 as the most unlikely of comebacks suddenly looked possible.
There was further drama in the deciding frame as Liang again failed to judge his angles as he missed another crucial snooker whilst 27 in front with the same number left on the table.
However, Swail missed a regulation brown and the Chinese youngster finally went on to seal a remarkable victory and a showdown with the in form O'Sullivan.
But Swail was left fuming afterwards, claiming referee Alan Chamberlain had replaced the cue ball incorrectly after Liang failed to get out of the original snooker in the final frame.
"It's very, very hard to take," Swail said. "There was absolutely no way he could see the yellow. If that was the case why not play that shot in the first place?
"I'm absolutely fuming at that. I think it was a very unprofessional thing to do and I told him (Liang) that. I will have to look at it again but I'm 99% sure he could not see the yellow.
"Any player would be honest enough to say 'I can't see the yellow'. When I put him back in I was taking it for granted he would come off the side cushion again."
As usual in such situations, Swail was asked to approve the replacing of the balls at the time but admitted: "When you are out there you are all scrambled."
Liang added: "I could see the yellow but it was so thin was I worried the ball could go in-off so that's why I played off the cushion the first time."
Perry through
Joe Perry clinched his place in the quarter-finals of the World Championships as he edged past Stuart Bingham 13-9 at the Crucible.
Perry led 9-7 going into the final session and despite stubborn resistance from world number 22 Bingham, the 'Fen potter' held his nerve and will now face a tough test against Stephen Maguire in the last eight.
Bingham stormed out of the traps taking two of the opening three frames. Breaks of 65 and a stunning 137 brought the score to 10-9 as Perry threatened to relinquish his strong grip on proceedings.
However, Bingham's response was abruptly halted as Perry regained a two-frame advantage and then confidently went on to clinch the match much to his obvious delight.
