Defending champion recovers to level up at 8-8
Allen and Hawkins also all square in last-eight tie
Zhao Xintong battled back to draw level with Shaun Murphy in a thrilling evening of quarter-final action in the world championship at the Crucible.
Zhao, the defending champion, showed his ruthless streak to finish the session with a flourish as the rivals ended deadlocked at 8-8 – the same scoreline for the night’s other last-eight showdown between Mark Allen and Barry Hawkins.
Murphy entered the session with a 5-3 lead after recovering from losing the first three frames and he showed his mettle with a clearance of 59 that prevented Zhao from drawing level. Zhao potted three reds with one shot off the rest in the 11th and he was in full swing as he amassed 129 points in two visits to the table without reply.
