Ronnie O'Sullivan looks to remain in the running for a sixth World Championship title by ending the hopes of Chinese sensation Ding Junhui at the Quarter-Final stage in Sheffield.

The incredible longevity of O'Sullivan is underlined by the fact that this will be his 18th Quarter-Final appearance in 25 Crucible campaigns as he targets what would be a 12th Semi-Final berth.

The reigning Masters Champion looks to have put his off-table feud with snooker's governing body behind him, at least for the time being, and is now fully-focused on challenging for a sixth world crown.

O'Sullivan battled his way past tenacious debutant Gary Wilson in the opening round, before blitzing rival Shaun Murphy 13-7 in the Last 16.

He is now poised for a battle which will capture the attention of fans in all corners of the world, particularly China - whose hopes rest on their leading light - Ding Junhui.

A decade on from their first (and so far only) World Championship meeting, Ding aims to gain revenge on 'The Rocket' and make it back-to-back Semi-Finals at the sport's spiritual home.

Ding fell narrowly short of becoming Asia's first World Snooker Champion when he lost out to Mark Selby in last year's final, and victory here would see him take another significant step in his quest to make history.

The number four seed has come through two all-Chinese affairs en route to the Last Eight, firstly dispatching teenage debutant Zhou Yuelong 10-5, before holding his nerve in an epic tussle to defeat Liang Wenbo 13-12.

He has produced six century breaks to O'Sullivan's four so far, and the naturally-gifted duo will inevitably deliver a flurry of high breaks over this three-session format.

Ding's head-to-head record, however, does not make for good reading from his point of view, having lost of his nine previous meetings with O'Sullivan in ranking competition.

He has not beaten the Chigwell ace since the 2006 Northern Ireland Trophy Final, suffering a 10-2 defeat in the World Championship the following year and subsequent heavy losses in The Masters and Welsh Open finals.

Their latest show-down gets underway from 10am BST on Tuesday for a total of eight frames, resuming at 7pm, before being played to a finish from 2.30pm on Wednesday.

Either defending champion Mark Selby, 2010 World Champion Neil Robertson or Scottish Open winner Marco Fu will await the winner in the Semi-Finals.