Luca Brecel gets wrapped up in a battle of snookers and three times in a row fails to send the cue ball off three cushions to nudge a red, gifting Judd Trump a much-needed 12 points.

Ken Doherty
1997 world champion on BBC Two

Some of the shots Luca Brecel is pulling off are just incredible. You can hear the crowd, and we are gasping here.He plays on his instincts and his long pots are just sensational.

Steve Sutcliffe
BBC Sport at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

Zhao Xintong said it was a little bit of a "surprise" that he is performing at the level he is having a served a 20-month ban in a match-fixing scandal.

He did not directly throw a match, but accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches and betting on matches himself.

However, he has now won 45 out of 47 matches since returning, with 34 of those victories on the Q Tour.

Dennis Taylor
1985 world champion on BBC Two

Judd Trump did not have many opportunities in that session. His opponent has just been awesome.

Luca Brecel started the session two frames behind and ends it two frames in front.

Luca Brecel has been near-perfect in the opening four frames of the eight today, winning all four.

Check out these scores from the session and remember this is against the world number one.

• Frame nine 73-9 (73 break)
• Frame 10 114-6 (114 break)
• Frame 11 106-0 (59 break)
• Frame 12 81-21 (51 break)

He has restricted the best player in the world to only scoring 36 points in four frames. Sensational snooker.

Trump can only get 21 points on the board and it's back to his seat again. Luca Brecel holds a 39-point lead with 35 on the table, before Trump fails to escape from a tight snooker behind the blue near the green-ball pocket.

Luca Brecel makes 51 but misses a tough blue and, having not potted a ball in just over 38 minutes, Judd Trump finally gets a chance when the balls are well placed.

With Zhao wrapping up his win over Chris Wakelin, the dividing barrier in the middle of the Crucible has been raised, so the whole arena can watch and enjoy Judd Trump v Luca Brecel.

The only one not enjoying it at the moment is Trump.

Judd Trump is number one in the world, but there's nothing he can do when he's stuck in his seat.

Luca Brecel rattled off nine frames in a row against Ding Junhui, winning 13-4, and he's again in sensational form with five on the bounce to take the lead.

In three frames today, Trump has scored 15 points, Brecel 246.

Image source, PA Media

Zhao Xintong has duly picked up the one frame he required to turn a 12-4 overnight advantage over Chris Wakelin into a 13-5 victory that seals his place in the semi-finals for the first time.

The Chinese player looks most likely to face Ronnie O'Sullivan, who leads Si Jiahui. That match comes to a conclusion this evening.

Luca Brecel goes safe and Judd Trump, aiming for the thinnest of contacts when he can see a red down the other end of the table, twice misses and gets a warning that he will lose the frame if he does it again on the three-miss rule (as he could see both sides of the target ball on each occasion).

He makes contact the third time, but then, as he feared, leaves it on for Brecel.

Luca with a massive slice of luck. He misses a red but that clatters into two others and one vanishes into left middle.

Can he build on that and win another frame in a row?

He gained nine successive frames in his 13-4 triumph over Ding Junhui earlier this week.

"It used to be a tough game, but Luca Brecel is making it look so easy at the moment," says 1985 world champion Dennis Taylor.

A great quote and it comes from just another great frame from Luca Brecel with a break of 114 after Trump had no luck when going into the pack of reds.

"It's like an exhibition," adds Ken Doherty.

Five-five. World number one Judd Trump led 5-1, it's four on the bounce for Brecel, potting from the gods.

Image source, EPA

There's an awful long way to go, but at least Chris Wakelin has extended his participation in this quarter-final.

The Englishman now trails 12-5 but knows he has to win all the remaining frames.

This was always going to be a great watch between two of the most attacking players in the game.

And this is just a breathtaking, beautiful break of 73 and, if you include yesterday too, that's three frames in a row for Luca Brecel.

Any chance he's getting this tournament he's just all-out attack and it's truly brilliant to watch.

Steve Sutcliffe
BBC Sport at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

Zhao Xintong could become the first ever amateur to win the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible.

But of course there is a slight anomaly in that, given he won the UK Championship in 2021, has already competed in Sheffield before but was then one of 10 players banned in 2023 following an investigation into match-fixing.

He did not directly throw a match, but accepted charges of being a party to another player fixing two matches, and betting on matches himself.

He returned earlier this term to the Q Tour and is technically still prohibited from playing in mainland China under the suspension given to him by the Chinese Billiards and Snooker Association.

However, that is set to end in July so it will not cause him any problems when he returns to the professional tour next season.

The CBSA had also signalled to authorities in the UK that they had no issues with him competing at both the UK Championship and World Championship.

Can world number one Judd Trump keep Luca Brecel stuck in his seat? We have seen some sensational snooker from Luca Brecel in this tournament, none more so than when he won seven in a row in the evening session of his last-16 match against Ding Junhui.

Image source, PA Media

After all that drama, we are onto the afternoon session.

Judd Trump resumes 5-3 up on Luca Brecel, while Zhao Xintong just needs one frame to beat Chris Wakelin and reach the quarter-finals.

Afternoon session:

• Chris Wakelin 4-12 Zhao Xintong - Table One
• Judd Trump 5-3 Luca Brecel - Table Two

Steve Sutcliffe
BBC Sport at the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield

In his post-match news conference Mark Williams has been telling journalists that he got pumped for that concluding session against John Higgins by listening to and belting out 'Delilah' by Tom Jones.

John Parrott
1991 world champion on BBC Two

An incredible snooker match. Everyone in there has been treated to an absolute feast. Two of the all-time greats locking horns and going right at it. It was brilliant.