Murphy upsets home favourite Ding Junhui in China Open

The Rotherham player edged to a 5-4 victory and will now play Belfast's Mark Allen in the last eight.

Junhui had breaks of 44, 72, 40 and 53 in the pair's best-of-nine-frame match at the Beijing Sports Gymnasium.

But it was never going to be enough to beat an on-song Murphy who, with efforts of 71, 111, 57, 74 and 45, deservedly progressed in the £250,000 tournament.

"I'm delighted with the way I played," said Murphy, the world number three.

"I made some nice breaks and played some good safety shots. I'm sure the match was great entertainment for anyone watching.

"We both had some good and bad luck throughout the match, but Ding was unlucky in the last frame to leave the final brown ball over the pocket. It couldn't have finished in a better place for me."

A disappointed Ding said: "I played okay, but I had some bad luck in the last frame.

"The pressure on me was huge, but now I will go back to England and prepare for the World Championship. There will be less attention on me when I go back.

"I had chances and we both made mistakes. I'm satisfied with winning my first match here, so losing doesn't bother me too much."

Allen, Murphy's next opponent, booked his place in the quarter-finals with a workmanlike 5-3 victory over Tiptree's Ali Carter.

Carter pushed the Irishman all the way with breaks of 59, 54, 58 and 45, but the Belfast youngster held firm and pocketed runs of 64, 135, 40, 53, 59 and 75 to make sure of his place in the next phase.

Also through to the last eight are Leicester player Mark Selby and Welshman Ryan Day.

Selby, twice a ranking-event winner already this season, impressed with breaks of 70, 43, 49, 48, 63, 43 and a match-clinching 127 to beat Hong Kong's Marco Fu 5-3.

Day knocked out former world champion Ken Doherty with a determined 5-3 victory.

Dubliner Doherty compiled breaks of 136 and 48 to level the match at three all, but Day earned himself a meeting with countryman Mark Williams thanks to breaks of 71 and 54 in the deciding frames.

Selby will play current world champion John Higgins tomorrow in a repeat of last season's World Championship final which the Scot won 18-14.

The last quarter-final will see Derbyshire veteran Nigel Bond take on Scotland's Stephen Maguire, this season's Northern Ireland Trophy champion.