Kent’s Barry Hawkins got the better of Zhao Xintong 6-3 to book his place in the quarter-finals of the Players Championship.

Zhao has had a stellar season, winning the UK Championship and German Masters, but he found Hawkins in a defiant mood in Wolverhampton on Tuesday.

Hawkins secured an early lead, had a decent slice of luck and was able to control the contest against the No. 1 seed.

Hawkins made an impressive start, as runs of 63 and 91 earned him a two-frame advantage.

Zhao took a scrappy third, but missed a black when well set in the fourth and Hawkins cleared with a 94 to take a lead into the interval.

A 90 from Zhao in the frame after the restart cut the gap to one, but the sixth went Hawkins’ way.

As well as his natural talent, Zhao has developed his match play this season and he struck back in the seventh with a run of 62.

The eighth was a tense affair, with colours falling in awkward spots. Zhao got in first, but he failed to kill it off and Hawkins stepped in and a break of 65 secured a 5-3 lead.

Hawkins played well, but he also had some good fortune. A huge fluke in the ninth set him on the way to the quarter-finals.

He went for a long red to bottom right, but it missed by a distance. It went up and down the table before careering into the pack and sending another red into the bottom left pocket.

Hawkins did not close it out at the first time of asking, but an excellent red to right middle got him over the line.

Hawkins will face Yan Bingtao in the quarter-finals following his 6-4 win over David Gilbert.

It looked set to be a comfortable afternoon for Yan when he raced into a 5-1 lead on the back of three centuries, but Gilbert fought to get within a frame of the former Masters champion.

But a break of 59 in the 10th proved enough to secure Yan’s spot in the last eight.