Snooker duo on form in Bulgaria

World number 52 Robertson won four matches to get to the quarter-finals, while 13th-ranked Davis got the better of three opponents to make the last 16 of European Tour event one in Sofia.

Robertson began with a 4-0 whitewash of Bulgarian amateur Stanislav Hadvipopov, conceding just 20 points in the entire match, and knocking in breaks of 105 and 65. He then saw off 26th-ranked Michael Holt by the same scoreline, compiling runs of 59, 71 and 40 along the way.

The former world amateur champion overcame 35th-ranked Jack Lisowski 4-2. After losing the opener, Robertson came surging back to take the next three, hitting a break of 80 in the third.

Robertson returned on Sunday for a last 16 meeting with 48th-ranked Scottish potter Anthony McGill and won the first two frames with runs of 87 and 44. McGill levelled, but Robertson sealed another 4-2 success with an 89 in the sixth.

Robertson’s run came to a valiant end in a high class match against world number two Neil Robertson. A 64 clearance enabled Jimmy to level at 1-1 only for Neil to take the next two with runs of 111 and 105. Jimmy replied with a 100 only for Neil to book a semi-final spot with the aid of a 53 in frame six.

Davis began with a routine 4-0 victory over Bulgarian amateur Dimitar Mehandjiiski, who scored just 14 points in the entire match. Davis compiled breaks of 46, 54, 89 and 83. The world number 13 then overcame 44th-ranked Matthew Selt 4-2 with breaks of 65 and 61.

Davis made it a hat-trick of wins on Saturday by edging out 41st-ranked David Gilbert 4-3, hitting runs of 55 and 56. Davis returned the following morning for a showdown against Ronnie O’Sullivan and was level at 2-2 before the world champion bagged two in a row for a 4-2 win.