Marco Fu became the first player to reach the last eight of the snooker world championship after beating Anthony McGill 13-9 at the Crucible Theatre here on Friday.

Fu of Hong Kong, China, suffered a cricked neck just after his first round win over Peter Ebdon, led the second session on the afternoon 9-6 and took control in the third.

Fu is now through to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2006, when he got to the semis before losing 17-16 to Ebdon.

World number 14 Fu, a two-time ranking event winner, will next takes on the winner of the match between five times champion Ronnie O'Sullivan and Barry Hawkins.