• Scot recovers to deny Zhao Xintong 6-5 in the last eight

• Judd Trump faces Mark Allen in later Thursday match

John Higgins benefited from an outrageous fluke as he came from 5-3 down to beat world champion Zhao Xintong 6-5 on the final ball and reach the semi-finals of the Masters at Alexandra Palace.

Higgins made a horrible mess of a plant, only for one of the reds to fly into the opposite pocket and the cue ball to somehow land on the black, en route to squaring the match at 5-5. The 50-year-old Scot then took a tight decider, clearing the table from the final red to move one step closer to a third Masters title.

This report will update later

• Trump defeats Ding Junhui, Robertson sinks Wakelin

• All eight first-round games ended in same scoreline

The world No 1 Judd Trump made three centuries as he saw off Ding Junhui 6-2 to move into the quarter-finals of the Masters, before Neil Robertson defeated Chris Wakelin by the same score – meaning that all eight first-round matches at London’s Alexandra Palace finished 6-2.

After edging a lengthy first frame, Trump – who was not able to lift any silverware in 2025 – crafted a fine break of 116 which was followed with a break of 69 to open up an early 3-0 lead.

• Semi-automated offside technology was not available

• High number of bodies in the box prevented its use

The delay in ruling out a Manchester City goal for offside in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup win at Newcastle was extended because semi-automated offside technology could not be used in the incident.

It took more than five minutes for a check to determine that Erling Haaland was offside and had interfered with play by holding the defender Malick Thiaw, with the referee Chris Kavanagh disallowing what would have been a second goal of the night for City’s new signing Antoine Semenyo.