Judd Trump looks to be the player to beat at the Shanghai Masters as he won his fourth consecutive match without dropping a frame.
Difficult to steal a frame off Trump, let alone the entire match
After seeing off Ben Woollaston and Alfie Burden without losing a frame in the opening rounds, Trump easily disposed of Stephen Maguire and Luca Brecel despite their sufficient snooker pedigree.
Maguire failed to pot in the final three frames of the last 16 contest, whilst Brecel, who won his first two games 5-0, scored just six points in the last four frames.
Trump will be the hot favourite to progress in the first semi-final when he takes on number 57 seed, Jack Lisowski. The pair came through the snooker ranks at the same time, although Trump has hit the heights expected of him much quicker than his good friend.
Lisowski has played three players outside the top 50 in his four matches but did defeat Mark Allen in a final frame decider after falling 4-2 behind.
Two veterans collide
Ronnie O'Sullivan also looks in great form after dropping just four frames in as many matches. He has won 14 of his last 16 matches in all competitions and thrashed Barry Hawkins 5-0 before seeing off Mark Williams who defeated the off-colour Mark Selby.
John Higgins stands in the way of O'Sullivan after comfortably easing through two potentially tough challenges on Thursday. The veteran defeated number 15 seed Liang Wenbo 5-2 before cruising past Martin Gould who had previously knocked Marco Fu out of the competition.
Higgins leads O'Sullivan 9-8 on the head-to-head but has lost all three matches between the pair this season. The duo are tied on 29 ranking titles apiece with the magical 30 just one step away for the winner of what should be an exhilarating second semi-final.