Image source, PA Media

Four of the eight quarter-finalists are left-handers - and two of them meet in the other quarter-final that will get under way shortly.

Northern Ireland's Mark Allen has previously won the Masters and the UK Championship - the other two titles in snooker's Triple Crown - but is yet to reach a final at the World Championship.

His quarter-final opponent, Englishman Barry Hawkins, has reached finals at all three Triple Crown events but a first title has so far eluded him. He was beaten in the 2013 Crucible final by Ronnie O'Sullivan.

Image source, PA Media

Defending champion Zhao Xintong has progressed safely through to the last eight as he bids to end the so-called "Crucible curse" - no first-time winner at the Sheffield venue has successfully defended the title in the following year.

Wins over qualifier Liam Highfield and fellow Chinese superstar Ding Junhui have sent Zhao through to contest what is arguably the pick of the quarter-final ties.

Shaun Murphy, the champion 21 years ago, has gone through a mixture of emotions at this year's tournament. After winning his first match against Fan Zhengyi in a deciding frame, the Englishman defeated Xiao Guodong with a session to spare in the second round.

On their day, these two are among the best break-builders and scorers in the sport. Could be a classic.

The four World Championship quarter-finals will each be played over three sessions and are the best of 25 frames.

Tuesday

10:00

• Zhao Xintong v Shaun Murphy
• Barry Hawkins v Mark Allen

14:30

• John Higgins v Neil Robertson
• Wu Yize v Hossein Vafaei

19:00

• Zhao Xintong v Shaun Murphy
• Barry Hawkins v Mark Allen

Wednesday

10:00

• John Higgins v Neil Robertson
• Barry Hawkins v Mark Allen*

14:30

• Zhao Xintong v Shaun Murphy*
• Wu Yize v Hossein Vafaei

19:00

• John Higgins v Neil Robertson*
• Wu Yize v Hossein Vafaei*

* denotes final session of match

Have your say on events at the Crucible via the yellow "Get Involved" button on this page.

Only eight players remain in this year's World Snooker Championship at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.

Some big names exited the tournament on Monday; Ronnie O'Sullivan, Mark Selby and Judd Trump - with 12 world titles between them - were knocked out in the second round.

But we still have the defending champion and three other former winners remaining in the field, plus four more players aiming to climb the Crucible mountain for the first time in their careers.

The first sessions of the first two quarter-finals get under way at 10:00 BST and both matches are available to watch at the top of this page, alongside live text updates.