Former world champion John Higgins ended China's Ding Junhui's hope at Wembley Masters at the quarter-final stage on Thursday as he beat Ding 6-4.

The Scotsman next will challenge defending champion Mark Selby, who put out Northern Ireland's Mark Allen 6-5, for a place in the final.

Higgins opened up a 3-1 lead over Ding in the best-of-11 frame quarter-final but the Chinese star roared back to level at 4-4. Higgins took the next two frames to secure victory.

Earlier, Englishman Selby came from 4-2 and 5-4 behind to see off Allen's Wembley challenge.

Friday sees the conclusion of the quarter-finals with Stephen Maguire of Scotland facing Australia's Neil Robertson while world champion Ronnie O'Sullivan takes on English compatriot Ali Carter.

(Xinhua News Agency January 16, 2009)