Joe Perry beats Stuart Bingham 6-1. [Photo/IC]

LONDON - World number nine Joe Perry breezed past former world champion Stuart Bingham 6-1 on Monday night to reach the quarterfinals of the Masters snooker tournament.

Earlier in the day, Mark Allen defeated John Higgins 6-5 to set up a second-round clash against either Marco Fu or Judd Trump.

"If you don't pot balls at key moments, you don't win snooker matches," the four-time world champion Higgins said after his defeat.

Bingham, ranked second and the 2015 World Champion, was apparently not in good form, making too many errors and only pulling one frame back when trailing 2-0.

Perry will next face Chinese number one Ding Junhui, whom he defeated in the first round in 2015.

"I'm thrilled with my performance," said the 42-year-old Perry. "It was totally unexpected but you just never know when you're going to hit form at this game. I've probably been playing some of the worst snooker I've ever played in my career over the past few months."

"I'll have some friends supporting me against Ding. I'm not going to put any pressure on myself again," Perry added.