The Scottiish Open quarter-finals gets underway later today. Here we take a close look at each one of them.

Xiao Guodong vs Neil Robertson

It’s China vs Australia in Glasgow in this intriguing quarter-final tie. It’s been a difficult year for Robertson both on and off the table but it looks like he is returning to form once again. Incredibly Robertson has not won a single ranking event since the summer of 2016.

Because of this the 2010 world champion has slipped to 20 in the provisional seedings list so there is no doubting that glory in the Scottish Open would give Robertson a much-needed lift heading into 2018.

But China’s Xiaou Guodong will present Robertson with his toughest test yet this week. The 28-year-old China star will be keen to make his first semi-final of a ranking event since the Shoot Out at the start of the year.

 

Ronnie O’Sullivan vs John Higgins

The two heavyweights of world snooker clash again for remarkably the FIFTH time this season.

And O’Sullivan has won all four previous encounters in the Hong Kong Masters, English Open, Champion of Champions and the Shanghai Masters.

O’Sullivan is in a rich vein of form and now stands just a few wins away from winning his fourth ranking title of the season following his triumphs in the English Open, Shanghai Masters and the UK Championship.

Can Higgins upset the odds and win today on home soil. It should be a cracker of a contest.

 

Ricky Walden vs Cao Yupeng

China’s Cao Yupeng is having a week to remember. He started the week in grand style by making his first career 147 – a break which could see him net £22,000 if nobody else makes a maximum clearance this week.

And he is followed that up with solid wins to reach the quarter-finals. We shouldn’t be surprised as Cao made it all the way to the semi-finals in the European Masters earlier this season – he’s certainly having an impressive campaign.

Today he takes on resurgent Ricky Walden who appears to be back to his best after a disappointing twelve months or so. Walden has been struggling with a back injury but now stands one win away from what would he his first semi-final appearance since March 2016.

Stephen Maguire vs Judd Trump

Stephen Maguire is on fire – make no mistake about it. The five-times ranking event winner is in good form having made the semi-finals of the UK Championship and is impressing once again in his home city of Glasgow.

Judd Trump has previously said he wants to go back to old his fluent style and not be worried about the pressures of the sport. Well it seems to be working so far as he’d made the quarter-finals.

If both players find their form in this match – the Glasgow crowd are in for a treat.