Scotland duo John Higgins and Stephen Maguire have beaten the Welsh duo of Mark Williams and Ryan Day to qualify for the World Cup semi-finals.

In the match that involved the biggest names left in the tournament, it was a test of nerve, with the match going down to the last frame. Higgins and Maguire, who reached the final of the tournament in 2015, before being beaten by the China B team, got off to a bad start when Wales took the opening frame.

They then rallied to take three in a row to put themselves within one frame of taking the spoils. However, aided by mark Williams’ match-high break of 66, Wales halved the deficit and then made it 3-3. Maguire and Day were nominated to play the decider and it was the Maverick who dominated the frame, with breaks of 59 and 23.

They will face China A in the semi-finals, with Ding Junhui and Yan Bingtao whitewashing Hong Kong 4-0 earlier on. Hong Kong had been the surprise package of the tournament, but offered no match for China, who were masterminded by home favourite Ding.

The former world number one is looking to win his third World Cup tournament. Elsewhere, the other semi-final will be contested by England and China B after the former narrowly got past Thailand in their quarter-final.

Kyren Wilson and Jack Lisowski were struggling against long-pot specialist Thepchaiya Un-Nooh and Noppon Saengkham, and were on the verge of elimination with just two balls remaining. However, Saengkham missed the pink and England were gifted a huge slice of luck when Wilson then fluked the pink and finished the frame off to level the match at 3-3.

Lisowski then beat Un-Nooh in the decider 78-14, with a high break of 48. In the final quarter-final, China B, consisting of Zhou Yuelong and Liang Wenbo, comfortably overcame Luca Brecel and Ben Mertens of Belgium 4-2.