Ronnie, John Higgins, Alfie Burden and Neil Robertson are through to the Quarter Finals European Masters 2016 in Romania

John Higgins and Alfie Burden both enjoyed narrow 4-3 victories in Bucharest on Wednesday to reach the last eight of the European Masters.

Four-time World Champion Higgins admitted he was lucky to scrape through against Tom Ford, who missed two clear match-winning chances in the deciding frame.

Burden came through a battle against Ricky Walden to reach only his second ranking event quarter-final since turning pro in 1994 – the other coming at the China Open six months ago.

Early in the decider, Burden left a red over a corner pocket when playing safe but was fortunate to cover it with the blue. Walden’s swerve shot failed to pot the red, and Burden took full advantage with a match-winning break of 64.

Ronnie O’Sullivan was let off the hook by Mark Allen at the European Masters as he won 4-2 to reach the quarter-finals in Bucharest.

Allen might have been 3-0 up but for crucial errors in the second and third frames, and in the end the Northern Irishman paid the price as it was O’Sullivan who marched through to the Quarter-Finals. Having got his season underway at last month’s Shanghai Masters, the Rocket continues to build sharpness and is now just three wins away from a 29th ranking title.

Asked what he would do on his day off tomorrow ahead of Friday’s quarter-finals, O’Sullivan added: “I’ll go for a run, do a bit of gym work, go to a spa for a massage, have some nice food, watch a bit of snooker and watch a few films on my ipad.”

Neil Robertson also looked close to his best as he recorded a 4-1 win over Rhys Clark.

Australia’s Robertson opened with a break of 82 then Rhys Clark took the second frame with a run of 73 and looked set to clear up to win the third until he missed the final pink. A relieved Robertson potted it to go 2-1 ahead and that proved the turning point as the 12-time ranking event winner compiled breaks of 103 and 67 to enter the round of eight.