Fu comes through epic battle

Marco Fu held his nerve to win a tense final frame decider in the early hours of this morning to secure his place in the quarter-finals of the SAGA Insurance Masters.

A wildcard for this year’s event, the Hong Kong player led 2-0, 4-2 and 5-4 against Australian Neil Robertson.

The man from Down Under refused to buckle however and made sure the match went the distance and past midnight at the Wembley Conference Centre.

It was Fu who pinched a scrappy 11th and deciding frame 55-43 however to secure his place in the next phase.

Victory will now see this year’s Aberdeen Grand Prix winner lock horns with either world champion John Higgins or Chinese prodigy Ding Junhui on Friday evening.

It was Fu who started the better of the two players, but Robertson quickly rallied and won the opening two frames thanks to breaks of 63 and 118.

Back came Fu however and, with runs of 80, 71, 69 and 100 reeled off four frames on the spin for a 4-2 advantage.

Robertson won the next two frames, both scrappy affairs to square the match, only for his opponent to head again by winning the ninth frame.

A break of 53 saw last season’s Welsh Open and Grand Prix winner force the decider, but world number 27 Fu edged over the finishing line by the slender margin of just 12 points.

It came as little surprise the 30-year-old, who has never previously progressed further than the wild card round, was delighted with his victory and a place in the last eight of the tournament.

“There are no easy games here, so any win is good. It’s great to still be involved in such a fantastic tournament” said Fu.

“The first six frames were very good standard and we both scored heavily amongst the balls.

“But after that it went scrappy and for some reason I lost my rhythm.

“At the end, I was just relieved to get a chance. I wasn’t nervous but I didn’t feel comfortable out there.”

Fu has not had the happiest of hunting grounds at the Masters, but having already won two matches at this year’s event, the Asian professional is confident he has enough in the tank to make his mark on the trophy this season.

Yesterday saw two-time Masters champion Mark Williams reveal he may retire at the end of the season after crashing out of this year’s tournament.

The Welshman, winner in 1998 and 2003, looked in good shape as he raced into a 2-0 lead over Irishman Ken Doherty in their last 16 meeting.

Two-time Masters finalist Doherty hit back in sensational style however to win six frames in succession for a deserved 6-2 victory and place in the quarter-finals.

“You never know, that could be my last match here at Wembley,” reflected Williams, who has slipped to number 33 in the provisional world rankings.

“I’ve got to have a really good end to the season to give myself any chance of staying in the top 32.

“If I drop out of the top 32 then I would probably call it a day, that would be it (the end). If I’m still in the top 32 then I’ll probably stick around. It all depends on the last two or three months.

“I’m hitting the ball a lot better (than 12 months ago), but I’m still getting the same results. It’s very annoying.

“But hopefully I can get a few results in the last few ranking tournaments and it doesn’t come to that (retiring).