Mark Allen beats Mark Williams in Shanghai Masters

Mark Allen is ninth in the world rankings

Northern Ireland's Mark Allen has cruised into the quarter-finals of the Shanghai Masters by beating former world champion Mark Williams 5-1.

Thursday's victory puts the Antrim man through to play another Welshman Michael White who beat Ryan Day 5-2.

In the first round Allen, recent winner of the Paul Hunter Classic and ranked number nine in the world, defeated Andrew Higginson of Widnes 5-3.

Ding Junhui is the current holder of the Shanghai Masters title.

In the 2013 tournament, he beat Xiao Guodong 10-6 in the first ever world ranking final between two Chinese players.