2015 Australian Open - And then there were only eight ...

Two more days have passed since out last encounter and the big names are still dropping like flies Down Under at the prestigious Australian Goldfields Open.

So, if during the first two days the likes of Mark Allen, Stuart Bingham and Neil Robertson said their goodbyes, in the following two Mark Selby, Shaun Murphy and Ali Carter joined the club.

The Welshman Jamie Jones has had a tremendous run lately (the player admits he's been running - a bit of O'Sullivan inspiration there maybe?) managing to come back from a 4-2 down deficit against Mark Davis and win by 5-4.

And like that's not enough he went on to beat Mark Selby 5-1 by hitting in breaks of 79, 68 and 51 in order to set a quarter-finals meeting with his mate, Michael White.

White had a very difficult match to play against a tactical Ali Carter (who beat Shaun Murphy by a terrific 5-4 scoreline in his previous match), the lads going hand in hand and not being separated by more than one frame the entire match.

In the end though, breaks of 88, 82, 59, 46 and 47 carried him across the winning line.

Judd Trump continued rocking around the snooker table, breaks of 111, 33, 62 and a 63 helping him obtain a clear 5-2 victory over Ian Burns. 

Truth be told, Ian put him in trouble when he almost completed a comeback (he was 3-0 down and reduced his disadvantage at 3-2) but the Bristolian rapidly caught the drill and extended his lead, sealing his victory on the black.

A totally revived and full-of-confidence Martin Gould cashed two important victories, a 5-4 in front of Marco Fu and a 5-3 one in front of Michael Holt (highlights provided by breaks of 93, 109, 91 and 62).

The Scottish team (aka. John Higgins and Stephen Maguire), booked its quarter-finals seats, Higgins beating Fergal O'Brien by 5-1, while Maguire fought for a 5-4 against Ricky Walden (who demolished Mark Selby's highest break of the tournament - 141 - with a 142).

Matthew Selt and Mark Joyce were the last two to finish their match, in the end the stronger of the two being Selt who won the deciding frame with a top break of 76 to write his name on the last place left in tomorrow's QFs.

So, without any further ado here is the order of play:

1pm
Joe Perry v. John Higgins
Jamie Jones v. Michael White

7pm
Judd Trump v. Stephen Maguire
Martin Gould v. Matthew Selt

*all hours are local time (aka. Australia)