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The bottom half of the draw for the Pukka Pies UK Championship of Snooker enters the quarter final stage on Thursday, with two of the strongest players looking to come together in the semi finals. World number one Ronnie O’Sullivan plays Mark Selby, while Liang Wenbo squares off against John Higgins. With defending champion Shaun Murphy now out of the running, losing heavily to Ding Junhui, O’Sullivan and Higgins are the two favourites to lift the title on Sunday. Ronnie O’Sullivan cruised past Peter Ebdon 8-3 in the second round, whilst John Higgins had a tougher time on his hands, seeing off Australian Neil Robertson in a final frame shoot-out.

The two quarter finals from the top half of the draw have already been settled, with Ali Carter blowing a 7-5 lead against Ding Junhui to lose 9-8, while a confident Stephen Maguire triumped over Peter Lines. England’s Peter Lines, (ranked 64th in the year) was one of the success stories of the tournament, having come through a couple of rounds of qualifying to get to the quarter final. On his quest, Lines had knocked out Marko Fu and Mark Williams, and if he could have dumped Scot Stephen Maguire out of the competition, that would have been his major scalp. But Stephen Maguire, who is ranked number two behind Ronnie O’Sullivan, is looking in fine shape, despite suffering some personal grief due to a family tragedy on the eve of the tournament. He represents a great bet to take the title, as he remains focused, and saw off the challenge of qualifier Lines 9-5. He will also avoid O’Sullivan until the final.

Ronnie O’Sullivan looked accomplished with glimpses of him stepping up to top gear in beating Peter Ebdon comprehensively, although and out of form Ebdon was the orchestrator of his own downfall a lot of the time. So the draw could be waiting for the big Ronnie O’Sullivan vs. John Higgins clash in the semi finals. But Mark Selby above others will be one of the young guns who can threaten Rocket Ronnie O’Sullivan’s end of year title hopes. Selby is one of the brave and fearless players who can challenge the World Number One. The match promises to hold some good attacking snooker and is the pick of the quarter finals.

Ronnie O’Sullivan to win: 1/2 at SkyBet
Mark Selby to win: 15/8 at Boylesports

Liang Wenbo to win: 15/8 at Stan James
John Higgins to win: 10/21 at Expekt

Pukka Pies UK Championship Winner
Ronnie O’Sullivan – 2/1 at SportingBet
Stephen Maguire – 4/1 at BetFred
Ding Junhui – 9/2 at Boylesports
John Higgins – 9/2 at Bet365
Mark Selby – 15/1 at ExtraBet
Liang Wenbo - 14/1 at Stan James