SHEFFIELD (England), April 22: Neil Robertson became the first Australian to qualify for the quarterfinals of the world championship in 23 years when he beat Stephen Lee on Friday.

Australia have been without a representative in the last eight at The Crucible since Eddie Charlton in 1983.

However, Robertson, who led 10-6 at the resumption of play, completed a 13-9 victory over 11th seed Lee to end the barren run.

Robertson, who had to qualify for the tournament, told reporters:

"This is a proud moment for me. If I can sustain that level, I think I can do really well.

"Australia is all about winners and if I won it, there would be a lot of coverage. I'm just trying to do the best I can and raise the profile of the sport.

"Disappointed Englishman Lee said: "He's definitely a good player and better than I thought.

"Champion Shaun Murphy moved to within two frames of the quarterfinals after taking an 11-5 lead over Steve Davis.

Play was interrupted for approximately half an hour when players and fans were evacuated from the arena after a faulty fire sensor in the building set off alarms.

The disruption did little to affect Murphy's concentration though as the 23-year-old continued his march to the last eight.

Marco Fu from Hong Kong is also just a frame away from the quarterfinals.

The qualifier leads Stephen Maguire 12-4.

Friday’s results:

Second round (best of 25 frames): Neil Robertson (Australia) bt Stephen Lee (England) 13-9 (66-53, 74-24, 109-0, 0-72, 0-135, 74-0, 105-1, 74-7, 4-78, 79-61, 34-68, 71-58, 85-1, 20-76, 87-49, 12-120, 76-0, 1-73, 105-0, 0-110, 24-70, 102-8); Mark Williams (Wales) leads Mark Selby (England) 5-3 (81-20, 66-52, 91-0, 7-108, 92-0, 58-13, 38-76, 13-78); Shaun Murphy (England) leads Steve Davis (England) 11-5 (115-1, 76-6, 63-28, 0-89, 63-61, 71-30, 69-19, 14-67, 76-8, 91-23, 48-59, 74-51, 82-30, 1-75, 23-70, 76-16); Marco Fu (Hong Kong) leads Stephen Maguire (Scotland) 12-4 (111-9, 66-45, 125-1, 74-0, 40-73, 67-49, 6-86, 57-25, 0-81, 66-45, 120-0, 0-95, 63-9, 69-30, 83-15, 55-16).—Reuters