XI'AN - Chinese snooker player Ding Junhui lost 5-3 to Shaun Murphy, while Lyu Haotian suffered a narrow 5-4 defeat against Mark Williams in the quarterfinals of the World Snooker Xi'an Grand Prix on Saturday.

Murphy, who had stunned Kyren Wilson 5-0 on Friday, fired a century break of 121 in the fourth frame against Ding to take a 3-1 lead before the interval.

After extending his advantage by winning the fifth frame, Murphy pushed Ding to the brink of elimination. The Chinese star fought back with a break of 93 in the seventh frame to close the gap to 4-3, but Murphy responded decisively with a 94 break in the eighth to seal the victory.

READ MORE: Ding Junhui to face Shaun Murphy in World Snooker Xi'an Grand Prix quarters

"Ding is one of the best players ever. So the match is always going to be difficult, and I think we both played well," Murphy said in the post-game press conference. "If Ding had won the eighth frame, and it had gone to a decider, it would have been 50-50," he added.

In the other quarterfinal, Lyu Haotian came from two frames down to level at 4-4, but Williams prevailed 62-7 in the decider to eliminate the Chinese player and set up a semifinal clash with Daniel Wells, who defeated Liam Pullen 5-2 earlier in the day.

Elsewhere, Gary Wilson beat Ronnie O'Sullivan 5-2 to book his place in the semifinals.