John Higgins to face Tom Ford in Scottish Open quarter-finals

Four-time former world champion Higgins, 48, had edged past Ricky Walden in a last-frame decider in the early hours to reach the fourth round.

Back on the table during Thursday’s evening session at the Meadowbank Sports Centre, Higgins, after losing the opening frame, produced breaks of 68 and 51 to secure a place in the last eight.

Higgins will next play Tom Ford, who beat fellow Englishman Martin O’Donnell 4-2.

Elsewhere, England’s Sanderson Lam made it into his first ranking quarter-final with 4-1 victory over Scotland’s Anthony McGill and will go on to face Thailand’s Noppon Saengkham, who made breaks of 113 and 93 as he beat Matthew Selt 4-3.

Defending champion Gary Wilson had to play two matches on Thursday, battling past Joe O’Connor 4-3 before sweeping aside Malaysia’s Rory Thor 4-1 with three half-century breaks – including an attempted maximum in the third frame – to reach the quarter-finals.

Kyren Wilson had fought back from 3-0 down to beat David Gilbert during the afternoon session, but later lost 4-2 to Chris Wakelin who moved through to face Gary Wilson on Friday.

Elsewhere, Welshman Dominic Dale beat veteran Jimmy White 4-1 and but then lost 4-0 to China’s Zhou Yuelong, who will next play Stuart Bingham after the former world champion defeated Aaron Hill and Zhang Anda on his way to the last eight.

READ MORE: 2023/24 Snooker Calendar: Every major televised tournament, dates, results and where to watch