STEPHEN Lee put in an excellent performance to book his place in the quarter finals of the Australian Goldfields Open in Bendigo today.

Trowbridge ace Lee, currently ranked eighth in the world, defeated world number 27 Jamie Cope 5-2.

Lee won the first two frames with breaks of 71 and 126, making it 3-0 before Cope responded with a 99 in the fourth.

Bit the PTC Grand Finals winner continued his decent start to the new snooker season and completed his win with a 51 in the seventh frame.

He will play the winner of tomorrow's last 16 match between Marco Fu and Jamie Burnett in the quarter finals on Friday.

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