>"It was not an easy match but my consistent play got me through," said Shandilya after the match. "My performance is getting better by the day and I hope it continues."While Shandilya looked raring to go, the Briton was never in a commanding position as the former put an early pressure on Chapman taking the first two frames comfortably.

"Two frames up in a nine frame encounter is no big deal, but still, today I was confident of beating him," said Shandilya, winner of this year's "Sportsman from Mumbai" Award conferred by the Sports Journalists Association of Mumbai.

Chapman was a different player in the third frameas he started playing more solidly. Churning out double figure breaks consistently he had no problems in bringing down the margin by one.

Not the one to take things lying down, Shandilya struck back in the next frame with a break of 62. The 83-9 score of the fourth frame was a true indication of the aggression Shandilya can get into his game.

Even though he was not in his best form today, Chapman saw to it that he did not make things easy for his opponent as he took the next frame 69-35.

Everytime Chapman took even a slight initiative, Shandilya was quick to neutralise it, trying to give his opponent the minimum of breathing space. He sailed through the next two frames and sealed the match in his favour.Shandilya now meets the winner of the Rafad Habib-Amit Saboo quarter-final match which was left unfinished earlier in the day. Habib was leading 4-3 when play was suspended as the match prolonged beyond the time limit. The tie was restarted late in the evening.Also Mohd Jokar ousted Sethi 5-4 in a keenlycontested quarter-final. Though the Indian provided a tough challenge to Jokar it was not sufficient in the end. With the scores levelled at 4-all, Jokar pipped Sethi in the deciding ninth frame, 66-50.Of particular interest was the fourth frame which Sethi was leading 54-20 with the scores tied at 2-1 in his favour. But Jokar showed that he was not UAE's No 1 player for nothing as he finished the board with a break of 35 and level scores at 2-2.

Towards the end of the final frame, Sethi almost caught up with Jokar and was just five points behind him. But he mishit a blue which stopped at the lip of the pot. And Jokar capitalised on Sethi's error to pot the blue followed by the orange and qualify for a semi-final berth.

MERCHANT THROUGH: Favourite Yasin Merchant continued with his good form as he ousted compatriot Devendra Joshi 5-1 in a quarter-final encounter late in the evening.Joshi who hasn't had a good tournament seemed to wilt under the Merchant onslaught. Joshi's resistance came only in thethird frame which he won with the help of a break of 40.Merchant played consistently throughout, his highest break of 68 coming in the fith frame. The Indian ace has set up a semi-final clash with Jokar.

RESULTS (QF)Snooker: Ashok Shandilya bt Roxton Chapman 5-2 (74-10, 47-29, 42-75, 83-9, 35-69, 82-0, 71-15); Mohd Jokar bt Geet Sethi 5-4 (73-20, 30-71, 10-72, 55-54, 23-84, 68-10, 69-29, 40-73, 66-50); Yasin Merchant beat Devendra Joshi 5-1 (68-7, 46-23, 50-64, 71-16, 80-46, 84-55).

Semi-Final Line-Up: Mohd Jokar vs Yasin Merchant; Ashok Shandilya vs Winner of Habib-Saboo tie.