Higgins into UK quarters

World champion John Higgins survived a stiff test from Neil Robertson to book his place in the quarter-finals at the UK Championship with a 9-8 win in Telford. It was desperately unlucky for Robertson, who suffered a moment of bad fortune in the final frame. Higgins got in with an excellent long opener after Robertson missed a tough red to the right middle which seemed to be affected by a kick. From there the Scot did not look back, producing a superb break of 69 to leave Robertson needing a snooker, which the Australian could not find. Elsewhere, world number two Stephen Maguire hammered Stuart Bingham, 9-3 while there were also wins for Liang Wenbo and Ali Carter over Mark King and Stephen Lee respectively.