Shaun Murphy and Neil Robertson progressed to the last eight of the German Masters with comfortable victories on Friday afternoon in Berlin.
Fresh from his run to the semi-finals of the Masters, Murphy has looked in excellent touch since arriving in Germany and he overpowered Scott Donaldson here, the 5-2 scoreline a fair reflection of a one-sided affair.
Having opened up with a sublime run of 129, Murphy reeled off further breaks of 61, 69 and 86 to ensure safe passage to the last eight where he will meet the dangerous Zhao Xintong, the latter's own upward trajectory continuing as he claimed the notable scalp of Gary Wilson.
Xintong began the match as the outsider of two, Wilson in the midst of a strong run of form and having reached the semi-finals of the World Championship last year, but the Chinese youngster never looked back once sauntering into a 3-0 lead without needing to find his very best form.
By the time Wilson lost a closely-contested and ultimately crucial fifth frame, his race was run and Xintong closed out the match with a fluent break of 91.
While both Murphy and Xintong will have one eye on Sunday's final, Robertson remains strong favourite with the bookmakers having produced another flawless performance in his 5-0 rout of Mitchell Mann.
Robertson triumphed at the European Masters last week and will surely take some stopping once again having knocked in breaks of 80, 55, 87 and 55 in another dazzling display that left Mann bereft of answers.
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