THE Australian Snooker Goldfields Open is quickly becoming a nightmare for the world’s top ranked players.
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World number one Mark Selby became the latest big name to fall when he lost to unheralded Welshman Jamie Jones in their second round clash on Thursday.
Jones dominated the clash 5-1 to advance to the quarter-finals of a world ranking event for just the second time in his career.
Jones, who came from 4-2 down to defeat Mark Davis in his opening round match, now plays the winner of Thursday night’s second round clash between Michael White and Ali Carter.
Selby, the 2013-14 world champion, joined Aussie star Neil Robertson, Marco Fu and Shaun Murphy on the Goldfields Open scrap heap.
With those big names gone, the man to beat for the title appears to be defending champion Judd Trump.
Englishman Trump will play Stephen Maguire in Friday’s quarter-finals after disposing of Ian Burns 5-2 in Wednesday night’s second round.
Trump, the world number seven, said his form was steadily improving this week.
"I was a bit tired today as I didn't sleep well last night, but that's no excuse and I still played well," Trump said.
"It was a good warm up for the next round. I have improved a lot - my bad game is better than it used to be, and I'm scoring heavily at the moment."
Maguire knows he’ll have to take his game to another level to defeat Trump.
"I've had two good wins and I look forward to playing Judd on Friday,’’ Maguire said.
“Having played in the World Cup I came here with a lot of match practice, so I'm a bit sharper than I have been here in previous years."
World number nine Joe Perry looks hard to beat on the other side of the draw.
Perry won through to the quarter-finals on the back of a 5-3 win over Robert Milkins.
He’ll face a tougher test in Friday’s quarter-final when he confronts Scotland's John Higgins.
Higgins, a former world number one, thumped Fergal O’Brien 5-1 on Thursday.
O’Brien couldn’t repeat the form he showed in his round one upset win over Stuart Bingham.
Martin Gould earned his place in the final eight with a hard-fought second round victory over Michael Holt.
Gould, from England, defeated his countryman 5-3 in a marathon encounter.
Holt looked in control of the crucial eighth frame, but a 62 point break from Gould turned the match in his favour.
In the quarter-finals, Gould plays the winner of Thursday night’s final second round clash between Matthew Selt and Mark Joyce.